Amazon’s LEO constellations transform military communications and space warfare
Rapid decision-making and distributed networks are reshaping how modern defense forces secure information advantage in contested environments
Low Earth orbit satellite constellations are moving from experimental capability to core military infrastructure, reshaping how defense forces communicate, share intelligence and operate across domains.
As military operations become more data-driven and time-sensitive, commercial space networks are emerging as a critical layer of modern defense communications.
“Low Earth orbit satellite constellations offer unprecedented speed, global coverage and resilience that transforms how we share data across a very digitized battlefield today,” said Michael Moran, Director of US Government Business at Kuiper Government Solutions (KGS), Amazon. “The use of space by the military isn’t new, but what is new is the degree to which commercial capabilities are transforming what’s possible in space.”
He added that low-latency space communications has become the connective tissue binding military operations together and enabling commanders to coordinate across land, sea, air and cyber domains with unprecedented speed and precision.
Moran said the shift reflects a broader transformation in which commercial innovation is accelerating the pace of military space adoption. Military planners increasingly view space as a congested, competitive and contested environment that demands new approaches to communications architecture.
He said the challenge for defense organizations is ensuring that war fighters can access trusted, real-time information even when adversaries attempt to disrupt or degrade communications networks. Maintaining connectivity in highly contested environments is becoming a defining requirement for modern military operations.
Moran spoke at the Defence In Space Conference (DISC) 2025 in London about the growing role of commercial space capabilities in modern defense communications and Amazon’s expanding presence in the sector.
Information advantage
Kuiper Government Solutions is Amazon’s public-sector arm, supporting Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, the company’s low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband network. The system is designed to deliver fast, reliable internet to underserved regions through a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites linked to a global network of antennas, fiber infrastructure and ground stations.
Amazon Leo combines satellites, gateways and customer terminals to extend connectivity to governments, businesses and communities beyond the reach of traditional networks.
Moran said the role of space has evolved from a supporting function into a decisive operational layer in military planning and execution.
“Our space-based information has moved well beyond just a supporting element of the warfight. In fact, that space-based information is often the decisive factor in military operations in today’s global battle space,” he said.
He emphasized that modern conflicts are increasingly defined by the speed and accuracy of decision-making rather than traditional measures of military power.
“Secure, fast decision-making has replaced brute force as the decisive advantage in military operations. Adversaries are collapsing the decision timelines to minutes and seconds,” he said. “If you deliver the right answer too slowly, you lose. But if you deliver the wrong answers quickly with corrupted data, you also lose.”
The explosion of data from satellites, sensors and unmanned platforms is reshaping operational priorities and placing new pressure on communications infrastructure. Modern intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems generate petabytes of information every day from multispectral sensors and distributed platforms.
He said the challenge is no longer collecting data, but turning it into decisions before the information becomes outdated. Without digital-centric architectures capable of moving, fusing and analyzing data at scale, the growing volume of information risks overwhelming traditional processing systems.
Coalition-ready connectivity
The growing importance of coalition operations is accelerating the development of interoperable communications systems designed to operate across national and organizational boundaries.
Defense forces are transitioning toward agile, software-driven communications supported by mesh networking and multi-path transport systems.
“These systems are being rapidly prototyped and tested in the field, with a strong focus on secure coalition-capable data sharing in a contested environment,” he said. “Keeping war fighters connected buys them the critical time needed to make decisions and extend the battle space.”
“We must create an environment where sensors, command and control nodes and effectors in any domain can network together for a military effect,” he said.
This reflects the rise of all-domain operations, in which air, land, sea, cyber and space capabilities operate as a synchronized system.
He said the ability to rapidly reconfigure networks and reallocate bandwidth is becoming critical as the boundary between peacetime competition and active conflict becomes less distinct. Commanders must be able to rapidly reconfigure networks, reallocate bandwidth and reprioritize information flows as operational conditions evolve.
Space as a service
Commercial innovation is becoming central to defense space strategy as governments seek scalable capabilities without relying solely on sovereign infrastructure.
“In this model, governments and industry collaborate to deliver modular, scalable, on-demand space capabilities. The space-as-a-service approach is accelerating access to information for our national security customers,” he said.
He said the approach enables defense organizations to deploy communications capabilities more quickly while maintaining operational flexibility.
“The future of national security is about cooperation, not isolation. It requires seamless integration across all domains and organizations,” he said.
Defense organizations are placing growing emphasis on rapidly deployable communications that can operate at the tactical edge, where connectivity is often most vulnerable.
He said rapidly deployable, software-driven communications and scalable commercial infrastructure are helping defense organizations expand connectivity to remote and austere environments.
Hybrid sovereign architectures
Defense planners are prioritizing architectures that ensure communications remain available even when networks are disrupted or attacked.
“Resilient communications means that commanders always have options. A resilient communications architecture ensures access to data through multiple means, leveraging multiple orbits, sensors, data centers and command and control nodes,” Moran said.
He added that resilience requires diversity across frequencies, pathways and capabilities rather than simple redundancy, and resilience now depends on diversity across frequencies, systems and orbits rather than relying on a single communications pathway.
“National security needs certainty in communications availability. Sovereignty means control,” he said.
Integrating commercial services with government-owned systems is enabling new sovereign space models that provide flexibility and control across multiple communication pathways.
Looking ahead
Moran said governments must be able to rapidly reprioritize information flows and adjust communications networks as situations evolve. Distributed space infrastructure will become a core pillar of future defense capability as governments and industry deepen cooperation to maintain operational advantage.
He said future conflicts will be defined by how quickly forces can move trusted information to the right decision-maker in a contested environment.
The line between crisis and conflict is increasingly blurred, creating a near-continuous state of competition that can flare into crisis.
He said only timely, secure networks can enable effective responses to crises and that the ability to rapidly reconfigure networks, reallocate bandwidth and reprioritize information flows as situations evolve helps prevent escalation into conflict.
