Amazon has applied for regulatory approval to build its first satellite ground station in Africa, filing for a licence in Kenya that would put Jeff Bezos’s broadband venture in direct competition with Elon Musk’s Starlink across the continent’s most developed technology market.
The application, filed through a newly registered local subsidiary, Amazon Kuiper Kenya Limited, was published in a Kenya Gazette notice on June 5 by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).
Amazon is seeking a 15-year international gateway operator licence that, if granted, would allow it to establish a satellite earth station and network control centre capable of transmitting and receiving internet traffic internationally.
The move pits Jeff Bezos’s satellite broadband service formerly Project Kuiper, now rebranded Amazon Leo against Starlink, which launched in Kenya in 2023 and holds a significant first-mover advantage.
Amazon is claiming commercial download speeds of up to 1,280 Mbps, more than three times Starlink’s advertised 400 Mbps ceiling, backed by a planned constellation of over 3,200 satellites targeted for full deployment by 2028.
A local ground station is critical to competitiveness.
When Starlink opened its Nairobi facility in early 2025, latency on its Kenyan network fell from 296 milliseconds to 39 milliseconds, directly boosting service quality and uptake. Amazon is seeking the same infrastructure edge.
The Communications Authority has not indicated when it will rule on the application.
Administrator and Writer
