Amazon has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to build an amazon satellite cellphone network using 5,105 new Leo satellites, with deployment slated to start in 2028 if regulators sign off. The company says the system would support voice, messaging, data and emergency services directly to devices, which is the part phone users will care about when cell towers are absent or dead.
The application, filed Saturday, puts Amazon deeper into a market already being tested by SpaceX and carriers. Amazon says it plans to work with mobile network operators to sell the service, a model comparable to Starlink’s arrangement with T-Mobile for satellite-backed phone connectivity.
Direct-to-device satellite service means the network is designed to reach phones or other devices without requiring the kind of separate broadband terminal used for home satellite internet. Amazon says its satellites would handle signal processing in orbit before relaying traffic, a design choice the company says should improve performance.
What is Amazon asking the FCC to approve?
Amazon is asking for authorization to launch and operate a new constellation of 5,105 satellites for direct-to-device communications. The company says the network would use Globalstar’s spectrum and would add phone-oriented service to Amazon’s broader Leo platform, which is also meant to provide broadband service.
The Globalstar piece is not a side note. Amazon announced earlier this year that it is acquiring Globalstar’s satellite network and assuming Globalstar’s existing arrangement to provide satellite services for Apple devices. Amazon says it expects to work with Apple on future satellite services that use the enlarged network.
Advanced Television reported that Amazon’s FCC filing also seeks permission to use spectrum assigned to Iridium’s satellite system outside the United States. That request lands while Rocket Lab is in the process of acquiring Iridium, with its own plans to expand satellite communications.
Amazon describes the phone network as a complement to the broadband services it wants to offer through Leo. Beyond ordinary consumer coverage, the company says the system could be used for disaster response and emergency messaging. Those are the use cases companies tend to lead with because they are easier to defend than yet another paid connectivity bundle, but the same infrastructure would also support commercial mobile service through carrier partners.
The planned direct-to-device constellation would be larger than Amazon’s first Leo deployment. Amazon’s initial Leo constellation is planned at about 3,200 satellites. As of July 2, the company said more than 375 of those satellites had launched.
The FCC still has to approve the new filing before Amazon can execute the 2028 deployment plan. Until then, the proposal is an application, not a working global phone network. The technical pitch is clear enough: put thousands of satellites overhead, use terrestrial mobile partners below, and make a phone reach orbit when the ground network cannot do the job.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
