Jeff Bezos declares space war on Elon Musk with the launch of more communication satellites for Amazon

The most powerful version of the rocket Ariane 6 took off this Thursday from the European spaceport of Kourou (French Guiana), with 32 communications satellites that will be placed in low Earth orbit for the Amazon Leo constellation. This is a new round of the contest between Jeff Bezos y Elon Musk in the celestial vault.

Leo is a constellation of communications satellites with which Amazon aims to bring fast and affordable internet to those who are outside the reach of existing networks, according to the company. In addition to competing with Starlinkthey Elon Musk.

Today’s release is the first of the 18 that Amazon Leo has contracted with Ariane 6 and it is the first mission of this rocket for a commercial customer.

The flight, which has so far completed all the stages without a hitch, had a “magnificent takeoff”according to one of the commentators of the European Space Agency (ESA)in charge of the broadcast, who highlighted the power of the new rocket.

Amazon, your package has been delivered.

Ariane 6 has lifted off for the first time with four boosters, making it our most powerful European launcher!

On board: 32 satellites for Amazon’s constellation. Amazon chose Europe for this major launch.… pic.twitter.com/x0UNAoT3w8

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 12, 2026

The relevance of the launch also led the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, to speak out even with a touch of humor when he announced on social networks “Amazon, your package has been delivered.”

And, he highlighted that the takeoff of the Ariane 6 with four propellers, “makes it our most powerful European launcher!”. He also pointed out that it was “a French feat, a European success: We are reaching new heights.”

Amazon Leo – previously known as Project Kuiper – sent its first 27 satellites into space in May of last year from the United States, in the first mission of the more than 80 planned to deploy the entire constellation.

The initial constellation, according to Amazon data, will include more than 3,000 satellites and, with this Thursday’s launch, the total number of those already in place rises to 212.

With these launches, added to the presentation last year of the Leo Ultra antenna For satellite internet, Amazon is trying to establish itself as an actor with its own weight in a field until now controlled almost completely by Elon Musk and his company.

Musk has dominated flights around the planet in recent years. But the Amazon founder’s extraplanetary ambitions could soon represent a challenge for the owner of social network X.

The threat that this “war” between two of the richest men in the world represents for outer space is that it will end up causing a satellite saturationwhich have a limited active life and end up becoming “space junk” drifting until at some point they fall to Earth.

This runaway race in space telecommunications may fill the celestial vault with 500,000 or up to a million satellites by 2030according to a NASA study recently published in the specialized journal Nature.

In an “overcrowded” sky, there are currently 16,000 satellites around the planet, of which 13,026 are active, according to a survey by the European company Look Up.

Of that number, 8,366 belong to Starlink, which plans to more than double this figure soon. China, for its part, is accelerating this race with 1,102 satellites already active and plans to deploy 27,000.

Needless to say, this “satellite tide” in a limited strip of space, it also increases collision risks.

But this is not the only thing that confronts Bezos and Musk. Both have a more ambitious goal, with which they could finish demonstrating their power beyond the earth’s surface. With its spaceship companies —Blue Origin y SpaceX, respectively–both billionaires compete to be the ones to put a human being on the Moon again.

Musk’s vehicles are part of the US strategy to take astronauts to Earth’s natural satellite. But Bezos, who also wants to end Musk’s monopoly, announced two weeks ago that he will focus Blue Origin’s efforts on the lunar goal.