MANY MINDEDAmazon asks the FCC to build a 5,100-satellite phone connection network
On July 24 Amazon filed an application with the US Federal Communications Commission for a satellite constellation it calls the Amazon Leo D2D System. The plan describes 5,105 satellites in low Earth orbit designed to deliver direct-to-device service — connecting ordinary smartphones and Internet of Things devices without a ground network. The filing reserves orbital slots for more than 11,000 satellites but Amazon says the fleet would not exceed 5,105.
The satellites would operate at altitudes between 510 and 580 kilometers and use spectrum in the 1.6 and 2.4 gigahertz bands assigned to Globalstar, with Ka- and V-band frequencies for gateway and telemetry links. Amazon announced in April an agreement to acquire Globalstar for about $11 billion, a deal expected to close in 2027. Each satellite would carry a six-to-eight-year lifetime and deorbit naturally within about two months after being lowered to 360 kilometers.
Direct-to-device connectivity, if it works at scale, changes what a phone can reach. Coverage gaps in rural and remote areas — places terrestrial towers never justified building — could close without users buying new equipment. That is a real lever on the connection need, potentially turning basic messaging and data into something available anywhere under open sky.
This is a filing, not a launched service. The application offered few technical specifics beyond spectrum use, the Globalstar acquisition has not closed, and an FCC application is only the start of a long approval and build process. Watch whether the spectrum rights hold and whether the deal closes on schedule.
Source: SpaceNews