Amazon Targets Starlink With Massive 5,105-Satellite Network for Phones

Amazon has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to launch up to 5,105 low Earth orbit satellites that would bring talk, text and data directly to your smartphone in areas with no cell coverage. Dubbed the Amazon Leo Direct-to-Device (D2D) System, the company would launch the service starting in 2028.

Amazon is able to do this because of an April 2026 deal to buy Globalstar, along with its satellites, ground infrastructure, and spectrum licences. Globalstar is the company that has quietly powered Apple’s off-grid features like Emergency SOS, Messages, Find My, and Roadside Assistance on supported iPhones and Apple Watches. Amazon now takes over that spectrum and the Apple agreement that goes with it.

The satellites will sit in five orbital layers between 510 km and 580 km up. Three cover the mid-latitudes where most people live, one covers high latitudes, and one near-polar layer reaches the far north, which matters for northern Canada. Unlike older satellites that just bounce signals back down, these process the signal in orbit first.

Amazon already has partners including Vodafone, DirecTV, and Australia’s National Broadband Network, and says it wants to work with carriers rather than replace them. It has more than 390 broadband satellites in orbit now, with fixed service starting later this year.

As for Amazon Leo, its satellite internet fleet, that reached nearly 400 in orbit earlier this month.

This is essentially Amazon’s planned rival to SpaceX’s Starlink and its direct to cell network, which is already being used by Rogers customers and other Canadian cellphone customers.