Satellite Internet Constellations: Starlink, Amazon Leo, OneWeb and Rivals Compared

A satellite internet constellation is a fleet of satellites, often thousands of them, that work together to deliver broadband to almost anywhere on Earth. SpaceX's Starlink is the best known, but Amazon, Eutelsat, two Chinese operators and several others are now building rivals.

This guide explains how these constellations work, compares the main networks with figures as of late 2026, and sets out why low orbits, short satellite lives and crowded skies make them one of the biggest drivers of activity in orbit.

What is a satellite internet constellation?

A satellite internet constellation is a large group of communications satellites, usually in low Earth orbit, that together provide continuous broadband coverage over a wide area. A single satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO) sees only a small patch of the planet and crosses the sky in a few minutes, so hundreds or thousands are needed for at least one to be in view of every user at all times.

Traditional satellite internet uses a handful of large satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), about 35,786 km up, where each one appears fixed in the sky. Constellations trade those few big satellites for many smaller ones flying much closer to Earth, which cuts delay and adds capacity.

How satellite internet constellations work

Every satellite internet constellation has three parts: the satellites, user terminals and ground stations.

• User terminals: a flat dish with an electronically steered (phased-array) antenna tracks satellites as they pass overhead, without moving parts.
• Satellites: each carries antennas that form beams over small cells on the ground, and hands users over to the next satellite as it moves out of view.
• Gateways: ground stations connect the satellites to the terrestrial internet through fibre.
• Laser links: newer satellites pass data between each other by laser, so traffic can cross oceans and polar regions without a nearby gateway.

Some networks now also connect directly to ordinary smartphones. These direct-to-cell services use very large antennas in orbit and mobile operators' spectrum, so a standard phone can send texts, and increasingly data, with no dish at all.

Satellite internet constellations compared

The main satellite internet constellations differ hugely in size and maturity. Only Starlink and OneWeb provide full commercial broadband service today:

Counts change weekly as launches continue. Our guide to how many satellites are in space puts these networks in the context of everything else in orbit.

Starlink

Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet constellation and the largest satellite network ever built. SpaceX began launching it in 2019 and had launched more than 13,000 Starlink satellites by October 2026, of which about 11,150 were still in orbit, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell.

• Customers: 13.6 million consumer subscribers at the end of September 2026, plus hundreds of thousands of enterprise and aviation customers, across 174 markets.
• Performance: SpaceX reported a median latency of about 25 milliseconds and peak-hour residential downloads of about 225 Mbps in early 2026.
• Direct to cell: about 674 satellites carry Starlink Mobile, sold through operators such as T-Mobile and Rogers.
• Launch: SpaceX launches its own satellites on reusable Falcon 9 rockets, which is its biggest advantage over rivals.

SpaceX is now moving to larger third-generation (V3) satellites, designed to be launched by its Starship rocket, to add capacity per launch.

Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper)

Amazon Leo is Amazon's satellite internet constellation. It was developed under the code name Project Kuiper, a name Amazon retired on 13 November 2025, so “Kuiper” and “Amazon Leo” refer to the same network.

• Size: the FCC has licensed 3,236 first-generation satellites, which must all be deployed by 30 July 2029.
• Progress: 396 production satellites launched on 14 missions by October 2026, and more than 1,000 built at Amazon's factory in Kirkland, Washington.
• Service: an enterprise preview began in November 2025, and Amazon says initial service will launch before the end of 2026 in the US, UK, France, Germany and Canada.
• Launch: more than 100 launches booked across United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX.

Amazon offers three terminal sizes: Leo Nano, rated up to 100 Mbps, Leo Pro up to 400 Mbps, and Leo Ultra up to 1 Gbps for enterprise customers. It has also agreed to buy Globalstar, adding a satellite-to-phone business.

Eutelsat OneWeb

OneWeb is a satellite internet constellation of about 650 satellites at around 1,200 km, owned by the French operator Eutelsat since 2023. Unlike Starlink, it sells mostly through partners to businesses, governments, airlines, ships and telecom operators.

Its first-generation satellites are approaching the end of their working lives. In October 2026 Airbus delivered the first 32 of 669 next-generation replacements, to be launched by SpaceX, and Eutelsat plans to keep the network running until IRIS² takes over in the 2030s.

Qianfan and Guowang

China is building two national megaconstellations, which together plan about 28,000 satellites.

Qianfan (Thousand Sails)

Qianfan, formerly called G60 Starlink, is run by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies. It reached 274 satellites on 3 November 2026 after a Kinetica-2 rocket launched 18 more, and aims for 324 by the end of the year and up to about 15,000 by the 2030s.

Guowang

Guowang (“national network”) is run by the state-owned China Satellite Network Group. It had launched about 230 satellites by late October 2026, mostly on Long March 8A and Long March 12 rockets from Hainan, towards a planned constellation of about 13,000.

Telesat, IRIS² and direct-to-phone networks

Why low Earth orbit? The latency maths

Low Earth orbit cuts latency because radio signals travel at the speed of light, about 300,000 km per second, and every kilometre of altitude adds delay. A request and its reply each travel up to the satellite and back down, so the signal crosses the altitude four times:

Real latency is higher than the minimum because of routing, processing and the slant distance to a satellite that is not directly overhead, but the gap is decisive. At around 25 ms, LEO broadband supports video calls and online gaming that feel sluggish over geostationary links. Our guide to LEO vs GEO covers the trade-offs in more detail.

Why Starlink satellites look like a train

A “Starlink train” is a line of evenly spaced lights crossing the night sky, made by a batch of newly launched Starlink satellites. Each launch releases a few dozen satellites into the same low orbit, so for the first few days they fly one behind another.

• They have no lights of their own: you see sunlight reflecting off them.
• They are visible in the hour or two after sunset or before sunrise, when the sky is dark but the satellites are still lit.
• Each satellite then raises its own orbit, the gaps widen, and within about one to two weeks the line has dispersed.

Challenges for megaconstellations

• Short lives: LEO broadband satellites are typically designed for about five years, so a constellation of 10,000 needs roughly 2,000 replacements a year just to stay the same size.
• Congestion and debris: thousands of satellites in similar shells must constantly manoeuvre to avoid each other and debris. SpaceX reported 207,152 Starlink manoeuvres between December 2025 and May 2026, mostly to cut collision risk, or more than 40 per satellite per year.
• Re-entries: SpaceX deorbits old satellites deliberately; about 1,860 Starlink satellites have re-entered or failed since 2019.
• Astronomy: bright satellite trails interfere with telescope images, and operators have added dark coatings and visors in response.
• Spectrum and launch capacity: operators compete for radio frequencies and for scarce launch slots, which has delayed Amazon Leo, Telesat and others.

What constellations need next

Satellite internet constellations have turned satellites into a high-volume, replaceable product, and that creates a new demand for work in orbit:

• Deployment: moving satellites from the rocket's drop-off orbit to their final shells, the job of the space logistics companies and orbital transfer vehicles now flying.
• Life extension: in-orbit refuelling and servicing could keep satellites working longer instead of replacing them.
• Disposal: removing failed satellites that can no longer deorbit themselves.
• New customers: orbital data centres and commercial space stations will rely on constellations for their links to Earth.

A network of reusable spacecraft that dock, deliver and redeploy between satellites and platforms is the missing layer. Orbit2Orbit's in-space logistics network is designed to provide it, turning the replacement cycle of these constellations from one-way launches into routine logistics.

Frequently asked questions