Saturday, June 13, 2026

FCC waives Amazon Leo's July 2026 half-constellation deadline

Amazon Leo

In an order dated June 5, the FCC waived Amazon Leo's requirement to place half of its 3,232-satellite Gen1 constellation - 1,616 spacecraft - in orbit by July 30, 2026, after Amazon said in January it could not meet the interim milestone and asked for a two-year extension. Rather than grant the extension, the agency eliminated the half-deployment deadline while keeping the July 30, 2029 full-deployment requirement intact, and imposed a penalty: Amazon temporarily loses priority spectrum status for any satellites not operational by July 30, 2026, with the chance to reclaim it in March 2028 or once it hits the 50% milestone. The relief matters because Amazon's deployment leans on Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan, and New Glenn remains grounded after a May 28 pad explosion.