Amazon CEO Pushes Back: Project Kuiper Will Pay Off

Plan is to increase competition in the LEO satellite space.

Amazon CEO Pushes Back: Project Kuiper Will Pay Off
Photo of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy from Isaac Brekken/AP 

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2025 – Amazon CEO Andy Jassy believes Project Kuiper, the company’s low Earth orbit satellite initiative, will benefit both consumers and Amazon in the long term. 

In a June 30 interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer pressed Jassy on the future of Amazon’s $10 billion satellite internet program. 

“I feel like Project Kuiper is a – you lose money, right thing to do.”

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Jassy defended the project, acknowledging that while it is a “significant up-front [investment],” it will eventually deliver long-term value for the company, especially because it complements other Amazon initiatives. 

Jassy pointed to the close integration between Project Kuiper and Amazon’s $4 billion investment to enhance rural delivery infrastructure, explaining that the satellite network will expand broadband access to underserved areas – unlocking new opportunities for online shopping.

“Kuiper, which is our low-Earth orbit satellite that we’re building, remember there’s 400 to 500 million households around the world who don’t have broadband connectivity, so they don’t get to do business online or entertainment or shopping or education,” Jassy stated. “And so we’re building this network so they actually have that connectivity.”

Jassy also stated that Kuiper will bolster Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud computing platform, by enabling data transfer directly from satellites to the cloud.

“The tight connection between Kuiper and AWS is going to make that very compelling as well,” Jassy said.

Although Kuiper launched later than its direct competitor, Starlink – SpaceX’s broadband satellite system – Jassy affirmed the program is on track. 

“We just launched our second set of them,” Jassy stated. “We have got 54 satellites up there, on our way to actually having enough hopefully by the end of the year to have a commercial service and a lot more in ’26 and ’27.”

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