Amazon’s Space Internet Is Coming and NBN Co's All In | Dirt Report

What NBN Co and Project Kuiper are testing

NBN Co has signed an agreement with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a low Earth orbit satellite internet project. The planned trial is aimed at regional and remote Australian locations that are currently served by NBN Co’s Sky Muster satellite service.

The trial is expected to start in early 2026. Its purpose will be to assess how Kuiper performs in those settings, rather than committing NBN Co to a full replacement of Sky Muster. Depending on the results, the technology could potentially supplement or replace parts of the existing satellite service.

Why satellite capacity matters

Sky Muster has provided an important connection option for people outside major cities, but the video describes its latency and bandwidth limits as increasingly difficult as more services move online. A newer low Earth orbit system could offer faster or more stable access if it performs as expected.

Improved regional connectivity could support activities including education, remote health, agriculture and small business. It would also give NBN Co another potential option as more customers in areas with limited alternatives consider Starlink.

Kuiper is still at an early stage

Amazon plans to build a fleet of 3,236 low Earth orbit satellites, using Blue Origin and other launch partners over the next few years. However, the full network is not operating yet. The transcript says Amazon launched two prototype satellites in late 2023, with full-scale deployment only beginning more recently.

Amazon has planned services for 2025, while commercial offerings were described as likely to arrive later in that year. This means the NBN trial is being considered while Kuiper itself is still proving that it can operate at scale.

A possible wholesale arrangement

One potential model is for NBN Co to buy satellite capacity from Kuiper instead of owning and operating the satellite hardware itself, as it currently does with Sky Muster. NBN Co could then continue managing the customer and service relationship, potentially through retail service providers, while using Amazon’s space-based infrastructure.

This could allow NBN Co to focus on delivering connectivity rather than building its own new satellite system. It could also give Kuiper customers, local testing opportunities and an established way to operate in Australia. The exact commercial structure is not confirmed in the supplied material.

The risks and competitive pressure

Kuiper faces several unresolved risks, including satellite delays, cost blowouts, signal problems and the challenge of delivering a complete network. If the system does not perform, NBN Co could be left needing another solution for remote customers.

Starlink already has a substantial head start in Australia, with an operating service and customers in locations where fixed infrastructure is limited. The Kuiper agreement could therefore be viewed as an attempt by NBN Co to offer another choice and reduce the risk of continuing to lose customers to a satellite competitor.

The arrangement may also attract political and economic criticism if it is seen as outsourcing part of NBN Co’s role to a United States technology company. The trial is not a final decision, but it indicates that NBN Co is willing to test alternatives to additional conventional infrastructure.