Amazon Leo Satellite Internet Coming to Delta Flights in 2028

[MacRumors]

Amazon today announced that it is bringing more high-speed Wi-Fi to Delta Air Lines customers via its Amazon Leo technology, which is powered by a constellation of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit – roughly 370 miles above the planet's surface.

Under the multi-year agreement, Delta will begin rolling out Amazon Leo in 2028 with an initial installation on 500 aircraft, "providing customers with high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi from gate-to-gate."

Each Delta aircraft will be equipped with a single purpose-built phased array antenna that supports download speeds up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds up to 400 Mbps.

"We've designed Leo to provide high-speed internet to the billions of people on Earth without reliable connectivity, and this agreement with Delta is a great example of the impact and scale of the technology – bringing even faster in-flight Wi-Fi to tens of millions of passengers who fly Delta every year," said Andy Jassy, President and CEO of Amazon. "People increasingly want to stay connected wherever they are in the world, and Leo's speed and reliability is going to have a big impact for businesses, governments, and consumers. It's going to make the in-flight experience so much better, and it's going to change what's possible while traveling."

Like Delta's existing commitment to passengers, Leo-powered in-flight Wi-Fi will be free for all Delta SkyMiles members.

Article Link: Amazon Leo Satellite Internet Coming to Delta Flights in 2028

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Free for SkyMiles, wonder how much for the normies

Edit: Nevermind, apparently that program is free for all.

 

[boswald]

Even more satellites orbiting earth... Pretty soon space will be a big intergalactic parking lot.

 

[racerhomie]

Even more satellites orbiting earth... Pretty soon space will be a big intergalactic parking lot.

It pretty much already is

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Even more satellites orbiting earth... Pretty soon space will be a big intergalactic parking lot.

Space is pretty vast. Lots more room to go there, don't worry.

 

[dmo7]

Free for SkyMiles, wonder how much for the normies

SkyMiles is free for anyone to sign up for. It’s medallion status that needs to be earned by flying/spending.

 

[FloridaScrubJay]

I happen to be a fan of Delta. This will be a great perk for SkyMiles members.

 

[simonb76]

Who sits in 21F and gets two windows to look out of?

 

[joliver34]

Space is pretty vast. Lots more room to go there, don't worry.

im not sure you understand how satellite's work

 

[BeerDrinkerDan]

Who sits in 21F and gets two windows to look out of?

Came to ask when the last time was that 21F had plush seats and that much legroom. Perhaps a widebody/long haul?

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Came to ask when the last time was that 21F had plush seats and that much legroom. Perhaps a widebody/long haul?

-bdd

Same as idea as the burger never looking good IRL as it does in the ad.

Second burger post for me today here and I don't even like burgers.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

im not sure you understand how satellite's work

I'm not sure you replied to the right post

 

[Hajj.david]

Free for SkyMiles, wonder how much for the normies

Anyone can sign up for skymiles, its free and you can start tracking and getting miles. If you have a delta account, you already have skymiles.

 

[Tim Jobs the 2nd]

Anyone can sign up for skymiles, its free and you can start tracking and getting miles. If you have a delta account, you already have skymiles.

Nice! Didn't know. That's good then.

 

[Hajj.david]

Even more satellites orbiting earth... Pretty soon space will be a big intergalactic parking lot.

Even more satellites orbiting earth... Pretty soon space will be a big intergalactic parking lot.

These satellites are tiny and get burnt up in 5 or so years per current regulations. Plus the volume of space of LEO is gigantic, its roughly 295 billion cubic miles. Every human on earth can have 100,000 satellites of their own and there would still be TONS of empty space

 

[rp100]

which is powered by a constellation of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit – roughly 370 miles above the planet's surf

Amazon currently has less than 250 satellites orbit. They can’t even meet the July deadline (filed with FCC) to have a 1600-satellite constellation in orbit and have asked for an extension.

Hopefully this will materialize into a legitimate competing service for satellite internet, but at the moment it’s still two years out.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Space is pretty vast. Lots more room to go there, don't worry.

Space is pretty vast. Low-earth orbit is not, and it's already pretty crowded. The closer satellites are to one another, the more fuel they must expend on orbital corrections to counteract natural perturbations and maintain safe separation. That makes they more expensive, and more complicated.

There needs to be physical miles between satellites for a multitude of reasons, like safety, communication interference and confusion for ground stations, accounting for drift, etc.

 

[Hajj.david]

Space is pretty vast. Low-earth orbit is not.

There needs to be physical miles between satellites for a multitude of reasons.

295 BILLION cubic miles to work with here in LEO. Even if you pretend that only the lowest portion of LEO is usable thats roughly 207 million square miles to work with. SpaceX has around 10k satelites and amazon is trying to launch like 250. Giving each of them MILLIONS of square miles to work with.. EACH

 

[WarmWinterHat]

295 BILLION cubic miles to work with here in LEO. Even if you pretend that only the lowest portion of LEO is usable thats roughly 207 million square miles to work with. SpaceX has around 10k satelites and amazon is trying to launch like 250. Giving each of them MILLIONS of square miles to work with.. EACH

You know they aren't the only companies operating in that range, right? Additionally, the entire earth is not useful. They don't orbit everywhere.

These orbits are focused on areas basically between 53 north and -53 south. The poles, and closely adjacent areas, don't really figure in any of the LEO measurements since few people live there.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Every human on earth can have 100,000 satellites of their own and there would still be TONS of empty space

That is incorrect because empty space doesn't weigh anything! 😀

 

[Hajj.david]

You know they aren't the only companies operating in that range, right? Additionally, the entire earth is not useful. They don't orbit everywhere.

These orbits are focused on areas basically between 53 north and -53 south. The poles, and closely adjacent areas, don't really figure in any of the LEO measurements since few people live there.

Thats correct but really spaceX is the only big player. They make up around 70-90% of active LEO satelites (around 12k). Even limiting it to just 50, -50 your still looking at around 160 MILLION square miles ASSUMING they ONLY are all in 100ish miles above the earth and not any other part of LEO or 10,666 square miles for every satelite active or otherwise (assuming 15k for any I may have missed) in LEO EACH.

Which means roughly each satellite has the square mile equivalent of massachusetts of space to stretch its legs

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Delta is going to provide something useful for free and pass up the opportunity to charge for it! Maybe they'll provide different levels of access and charge for all but the basic level.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Thats correct but really spaceX is the only big player. They make up around 70-90% of active LEO satelites (around 12k). Even limiting it to just 50, -50 your still looking at around 160 MILLION square miles ASSUMING they ONLY are all in 100ish miles above the earth and not any other part of LEO or 10,666 square miles for every satelite active or otherwise (assuming 15k for any I may have missed) in LEO EACH.

Which means roughly each satellite has the square mile equivalent of massachusetts of space to stretch its legs

True, but Starlink has already applied for approval for 1 million satellites. Plus you need to account for junk and debris.

Elon Musk's SpaceX applies to launch 1m satellites into orbit

The firm wants to create a network of "orbital data centres" to power artificial intelligence.

www.bbc.com

Anyway, I guess it's alright, but it sure is a bummer for us sky-watchers. I live in a pretty rural, non light-polluted area, and am a frequent telescope viewer. I see little dots flying around all the time now.

 

[Pascal Desjardins]

True, but Starlink has already applied for approval for 1 million satellites. Plus you need to account for junk and debris.

Elon Musk's SpaceX applies to launch 1m satellites into orbit

The firm wants to create a network of "orbital data centres" to power artificial intelligence.

www.bbc.com

Anyway, I guess it's alright, but it sure is a bummer for us sky-watchers. I live in a pretty rural, non light-polluted area, and am a frequent telescope viewer. I see little dots flying around all the time now.

Exactly, try to take a long exposure picture of the night sky! Satellite streaks everywhere!

 

[tucotuti]

Thats correct but really spaceX is the only big player. They make up around 70-90% of active LEO satelites (around 12k). Even limiting it to just 50, -50 your still looking at around 160 MILLION square miles ASSUMING they ONLY are all in 100ish miles above the earth and not any other part of LEO or 10,666 square miles for every satelite active or otherwise (assuming 15k for any I may have missed) in LEO EACH.

Which means roughly each satellite has the square mile equivalent of massachusetts of space to stretch its legs

The real issue for astronomers isn’t how much “ground” each sat gets, it’s the cumulative effect: thousands of bright, fast-moving objects streaking across the sky, raising background light, corrupting long exposures, and complicating survey data. That’s why astronomers complain and worry about streaks, glare, and lost observing time, even NASA issued a warning about Starlink satellites

And while SpaceX may dominate LEO numbers today, it’s just one company and only the tip of the iceberg, dozens of operators (and many more planned constellations) are coming. The EU, China, India, etc., will also want their own systems in the future so they don’t have to depend on US companies. If now we are already seeing astronomers reporting LEO satellites disrupting astronomy, imagine in the future.