Could October Mark The Start of Kuiper’s Global Breakthrough?
Oct 15, 2025
October has proven to be a milestone month for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, as the satellite internet venture secured crucial regulatory approvals and strategic partnerships across two continents. The projects in Ireland and Uzbekistan were major steps towards the realization of the ambitious plan of the company to offer high-speed internet to underserved communities all around the world showing that the project is expanding its global presence and willing to bridge the digital divide.
Project Kuiper Mission Management Team, Redmond, Washington. Credit: Amazon
Project Kuiper achieved tremendous gains in the Central Asian market by cementing an alliance with Uzbekistan, the country of about 36 million individuals in need of updating its telecommunications infrastructure. On October 10, the Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan reported the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Kuiper, which will be a breakthrough in the field of internet connectivity in the region. The agreement aims to enhance the telecommunication infrastructure in the country and increase access to high-speed internet throughout Uzbekistan with the help of the satellite network provided by Project Kuiper. This collaboration was formed after effective talks between the Kuiper representatives and the Minister of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, Sherzod Shermatov, who received a delegation of large American technology corporations, among them Amazon Project Kuiper, Apple, Mastercard, and Meta, to discuss the opportunities of collaboration in digital technologies.
In the same week, another important milestone was reached by Project Kuiper as it was given regulatory approval by the Commission for Communications Regulation of Ireland to operate a satellite earth station gateway at the National Space Centre in Cork. This license is one of the pillars in the mission of this project to provide high speed and high quality broadband across Europe and other regions. The approval allows Project Kuiper to create a key infrastructure element that will become a critical component of the network, connecting orbiting satellites to the backbone of the internet and enabling the data flow to the customers in the area. In celebration of this success, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, together with the National Space Centre and Amazon officials, visited the Elfordstown plant in Midleton to cut the ribbon, and emphasized that the approval aligns perfectly with the National Digital Strategy of the country to have high-speed connectivity across the state by 2028.
The network of Project Kuiper uses the latest technology, which is why it is distinguished from conventional satellite internet networks. It has over 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit that provide services alongside next-generation customer terminals, ground gateways, and extensive global networking infrastructure. The satellites of Project Kuiper are at a much lower altitude of several hundred kilometers compared to the conventional geostationary satellites, which orbit at a distance of about 36,000 kilometers above the earth. This closer proximity to the planet significantly lowers latency, which in turn reduces the amount of time it takes to transmit data between users and the internet by a significant margin and provides customers with a significantly faster and more responsive online experience.
The new licensed gateway station in Ireland will allow Amazon to offer high-speed satellite broadband to customers in Ireland directly, serving individual households, companies, educational institutions, and community facilities, where the presence of a decent internet connection has long been an issue. Alison Dunn, country manager of Amazon in Ireland, noted that the availability of high speed, low latency internet has never been more vital and was proud of the role played by the company in ensuring connectivity to communities that are currently not connected by existing networks, noting that this would not have been achievable without the backing of ComReg, the Irish government, and the National Space Centre partnership. Rory Fitzpatrick, the CEO of National Space Centre, mentioned that his company was delighted to collaborate with Amazon on the delivery of Project Kuiper in Ireland, and this partnership will help to enhance the position of Ireland in the world space industry. The Irish facility of Project Kuiper will supplement the National Broadband Plan by offering alternative connectivity services to the most difficult-to-access locations. It is expected that the project will start providing service to some customers later this year under a commercial beta program, and eventually extend the service to more customers, as more satellites are launched and coverage capacity reaches wider parts of the system.
