The space race for your internet connection just hit a new gear. On Monday, Amazon officially took the wraps off Leo Ultra, the flagship antenna for its satellite internet service, Amazon Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper). While the service is currently in a “private preview” for select enterprise and government partners, the specs revealed this week suggest Amazon is gunning directly for the high-end market currently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink.

For the first time, we have a clear look at the hardware that hopes to bridge the digital divide—and it’s a beast.

The headline grabber is the Leo Ultra terminal. This isn’t your average backyard satellite dish. Measuring 20 by 30 inches, it is significantly larger than the standard residential terminals we’ve seen from competitors. But with that size comes power. Amazon claims this is the “fastest customer terminal in production,” capable of handling download speeds up to 1Gbps and upload speeds of 400Mbps.

To put that in perspective, that’s fiber-optic grade speed beamed down from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Amazon is positioning the Ultra specifically for “business and government customers“—think emergency response teams, remote research stations, and maritime operations that need to move massive amounts of data quickly.

But the Ultra isn’t flying solo. It’s the top tier of a three-terminal lineup revealed by Amazon:

• Leo Ultra: The 1Gbps enterprise powerhouse.
• Leo Pro: An 11-inch square terminal designed for consumers and small businesses, offering speeds up to 400Mbps.
• Leo Nano: A highly portable, 7-inch square antenna (about the size of a Kindle) capable of 100Mbps, perfect for hikers or basic connectivity needs.

Chasing Starlink

The inevitable question is: How does this compare to Starlink?

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has a massive head start, with thousands of satellites already in orbit and a mature user base. The current Starlink High Performance Kit, which targets the same business demographic as the Leo Ultra, generally supports download speeds of around 400Mbps—less than half of Amazon’s claimed maximum for the Ultra.

However, the goalposts are moving. SpaceX has promised that its next-generation V3 satellites will eventually unlock gigabit speeds for Starlink users, with total satellite bandwidth capacities reaching 1Tbps. For now, though, Amazon seems to be trying to win the “spec sheet” war right out of the gate.

The security edge: private networking

Speed is great, but for the corporate and government clients Amazon is courting, security is often the dealbreaker. This is where Amazon Leo might have a distinct advantage.

The service is built to integrate natively with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This allows enterprise customers to move data from remote locations directly into the AWS cloud via private networking links, bypassing the public internet entirely.

This “private path” is a critical selling point, especially given recent revelations about the vulnerabilities of older satellite technology.

The “open book” of old satellites

Why does private networking matter so much? Because traditional satellite internet has been shockingly insecure.

Just last month, researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the University of Maryland published a startling report on Geostationary (GEO) satellite links. Their study found that a vast amount of traffic on these older legacy networks is unencrypted.

Using relatively cheap equipment (under $1,000), the researchers were able to intercept sensitive data being beamed down from space, including:

• VoIP phone calls
• SMS messages
• Corporate email traffic
• Login credentials

The researchers noted that because GEO satellites cover such massive areas (casting a wide “beam” over an entire continent), intercepting this data doesn’t require being near the target—it just requires being in the same hemisphere.

Amazon’s move to offer private, encrypted paths directly to the cloud acts as a direct counter to these legacy vulnerabilities. By keeping traffic off the public internet and encrypting it from the antenna to the data center, Leo aims to make “listening in” effectively impossible for bad actors.

What’s next?

While the hardware looks promising, you can’t buy an Amazon Leo dish just yet. The service is currently in limited testing with partners like airlines and energy companies. A full commercial rollout is slated for 2026, which means Starlink has a bit more time to rule the roost before the competition truly heats up.