New Study Funded by Amazon Sees Big Payoff from Satellite Internet
The satellites have the potential for a big payoff and quality internet for users.
Abby Larkin
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2026 – A recent study funded by Amazon found that Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites helps address the gaps in global connectivity, bring high-quality internet to underserved communities and has the potential to add millions in revenue.
The study, conducted by Oxford Economics< found that LEO satellite broadband can provide support for between 78 million to 421 million users globally and has the potential to raise global GDP by $32 billion to $863 billion. This projected GDP range is comparable to GDP of a small country like Iceland or to the entire GDP of Saudi Arabia.
LEO satellites have the potential to increase internet speed, provide greater internet access to rural communities, at a reduced launch cost. With reliable, high-speed internet becoming essential to participating in today’s economy, these satellites have the potential to address the issue.
Starlink has a big head start as it is the only company currently with a robust busines, serving 10 million customers relying on more than 10,000 LEOs deployed. However, companies all over the globe including Amazon are racing to get involved with the LEO satellite business because of its financial promise.
On a first quarter call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy compared the potential of Amazon Leo satellite service to the success of Amazon Web Services, which accounts for nearly 60% of Amazon’s revenue and generates $160 billion in revenue.
“I think we will be about two times better on the downlink than existing alternatives and about six times better on the uplink performance than existing alternatives,” Jassy said on the call. He was optimistic about Amazon’s ability to compete with other LEO satellite companies. The tech company has not officially started offering its Amazon LEO, but hopes to provide the services at a competitive rate.
Amazon announced the acquisition of Globalstar in April for $10.8 billion, seeking to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink LEO satellites. While Amazon has a long way to go to compete with SpaceX, it recently launched LEO 32 satellites, bringing the total number of deployed satellites to 302.
