- NBN CO announced a partnership with Amazon Project Kuiper
- Launch of mid-2026, he promises to bring the internet satellite to rural Australia faster
- It will initially be launched in Tasmania before moving north across the country
While we are increasingly getting closer to imminent NBN speed improvements through the fixed network, NBN CO announced today (August 5) a partnership with the satellite internet service of the Amazon Kuiper project, to improve the connectivity of Australians in rural, regional and distant regions.
It would be an upgrade of the current SKY MUSTER service offered by NBN CO to rural and regional Australia which, at present, has around 307,000 premises in its geostational footprint.
The currently used satellites are approaching their end -of -life period, although Nbn Co claims that there is a lot of time to ensure a smooth transition for its Sky Muster customers.
Read the rest to find out more.
What is the Kuiper project?
Amazon began research and development of the Kuiper project about seven years ago, in 2018. The first two prototypes of satellites were launched in October 2023, and a large -scale deployment launched in April 2025 with 27 production satellites. The Internet service of the Kuiper project will possibly see around 3,200 satellites in low orbit (LEO) deployed at a height of approximately 600 km.
Nbn Co said the first signs proved to be very promising and were intended for mid-2026 as when the internet plans by satellite (AKA Sky Mustter) will be available for customers, starting with Tasmania.
We expect that, following a launch in the southern regions of the country, another deployment will take place to the north over a period of several weeks to months.
Who can get Project Kuiper?
The Kuiper Satellite satellite internet service will be available for all current Sky Mustter and Sky Mustter Plus customers, as well as anyone in the current geostationary satellite footprint – around 300,000 dwellings – which will all finally migrate to the new service, or will be offered the possibility of registering.
It will not be an immediate change, because Nbn CO says that its two Sky Mustter satellites will remain in service before “around 2032” to help make the transition as fluid as possible.
After today’s announcement, NBN CO will start other conversations with Project Kuiper and retail service providers (RSP) to determine the prices and speeds that customers can expect.
How fast is the project kuiper?
Although the exact speeds have not yet been determined, NBN CO says that customers served by Internet satellite can expect “quality high speed of the city”. Sky Muster Services is currently maximum at 100 Mbps, and Project Kuiper says that its service can reach up to 400 Mbps of download speed for residential customers, or up to 1 GBPS for business customers.
Something else?
From the partnership, the CEO of NBN CO, Ellie Sweeney, said: “The high disintegration of Leo Satellite, provided by NBN CO and fed by the Amazon Kuiper project, will be a major jump for customers in certain parts of regional, rural and distant Australia.
“The Australians deserve to have access to high speed and efficient high speed, whether they live in a big city, on the outskirts of a country city or miles from their nearest neighbor … by going to the next generation of the wide satellite strip powered by the Kuiper project, we work to bring the best technology available to the southern in the bush.”
