Amazon Gets FCC Approval to More Than Double Its LEO Fleet
Amazon’s also needs an FCC waiver to miss a key deployment deadline in July.
WASHINGTON, Feb 18, 2026 – As Amazon attempts to catch Elon Musk’s Starlink in the internet space race, the Trump Administration gave Amazon a win after approving a more than doubling of its low Earth orbit satellite fleet on Feb. 10.
In its approval, the Federal Communications Commission will allow Amazon Leo to add 4500 satellites to its developing spaced-based Internet service, bringing its total to just over 7,700 and incorporating its gen two and polar orbit satellite systems.
This approval comes just weeks after Amazon Leo sought an extension from the FCC on deployment of its first generation system, which has faced setbacks due to launch delays, according to its request.
Amazon Leo has been given a deadline of July 30, 2026 to deploy the first half of its originally approved 3,232 satellites, of which only 11% have been deployed. The FCC set a deadline of July 30, 2028 for the entire constellation.
The Feb 10 FCC approval will allow for Amazon LEO to operate its second generation of satellites along the same low earth orbital paths and altitudes of its first generation system, while also adding an orbital path around the poles. Amazon has been given a deadline of Feb. 10, 2035 for full deployment for these two systems.
As Amazon Leo attempts to catch up, it successfully launched 32 satellites from Kourou, French Guiana on Feb 12, bringing its total in orbit to about 200. Starlink currently has over 9,000 active LEOs, according to Starlink’s website.
In its “request for relief,” Amazon Leo said that deployment delays have been out of its control, noting that “manufacturing disruptions, the failure and grounding of new launch vehicles, and limitations in spaceport capacity” have prevented them from launching satellites as fast as they can build them. The FCC has yet to rule on this request.
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