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Illustration of a remote Australian homestead at dusk with a satellite dish beside the house and a trail of low-orbit satellites arcing across the starry sky

Amazon Leo / NBN Leo in Australia: Confirmed Details, Pricing and Timeline

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NBN Co is replacing its Sky Muster satellites with Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit constellation — but the launch has slipped a year, retail prices are still unannounced, and the details are scattered. Here is what is actually confirmed, what is still to be decided, and whether a Sky Muster household should wait or switch to Starlink now.

In brief

  • NBN Leo brings Amazon's satellites to Sky Muster homes — but the launch slipped to mid-2027 and retail prices are unannounced. What is confirmed, what is not.
  • What NBN Leo actually is: NBN Leo is not a new company, and it is not a satellite you buy from Amazon.
  • What is confirmed: These points come from NBN Co's own statements and its February 2026 industry consultation, as reported by iTnews and others:
  • What is still to be confirmed
  • The timeline, as it stands

In August 2025, NBN Co announced it would deliver its next satellite service on Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit constellation — then called Project Kuiper, since rebranded Amazon Leo — with a launch aimed at mid-2026. That date has slipped. NBN Co now says the rollout will begin “around mid-2027”, starting with trials in Tasmania, and the roughly 60,000 current Sky Muster customers will migrate over the following 18 months to two years. If you are on Sky Muster, nothing changes today — but the decision of whether to wait for NBN Leo or switch to Starlink now is worth making deliberately, because NBN Co’s best wholesale pricing only applies to customers who move within 90 days of launch.

What NBN Leo actually is

NBN Leo is not a new company, and it is not a satellite you buy from Amazon. It is NBN Co’s wholesale satellite service, delivered over Amazon’s Leo constellation, and sold to you by an Australian internet provider — the same retailer model as the rest of the NBN. You will keep (or choose) a provider, that provider will sell you an NBN Leo plan, and NBN Co handles the equipment, the installation, and the wholesale network.

That distinction matters because Amazon will also sell its own Leo service directly to the public, separately from NBN Co. The two will use the same satellites but they are different products: NBN Leo comes through the NBN retailer ecosystem with NBN Co’s installation and support; Amazon’s direct service will be sold by Amazon on Amazon’s terms. This article is about NBN Leo. If you see “Amazon Leo” prices quoted without saying which channel they belong to, treat them with suspicion — at the time of writing, neither channel has announced Australian retail prices.

The constellation itself is the big change. Sky Muster uses two geostationary satellites sitting about 36,000 km above Earth. A signal has to travel up and back over that distance, which is why Sky Muster latency sits around 600 milliseconds — fine for browsing and streaming, hopeless for video calls, gaming, and anything real-time. Amazon’s Leo satellites orbit at roughly 600 km. NBN Co says the new service will cut latency to around 60 milliseconds, roughly a tenfold improvement. The ACCC’s final Measuring Broadband Australia report put Sky Muster’s measured latency at 658 ms; even allowing for measurement differences, the gap between the two technologies is an order of magnitude.

What is confirmed

These points come from NBN Co’s own statements and its February 2026 industry consultation, as reported by iTnews and others:

  • Two speed tiers at launch: 50/10 Mbps and 100/20 Mbps. That is 50 down / 10 up, and 100 down / 20 up. Faster tiers are possible later — Amazon’s constellation is technically capable of much more — but NBN Co has only committed to these two for the introductory plans.
  • Uncapped data. The new plans will not have a metered data allowance, unlike the standard Sky Muster plans that shaped and counted usage. This is one of the biggest quality-of-life changes for satellite households.
  • Free equipment and installation for eligible existing Sky Muster customers. NBN Co is proposing to replace existing customers’ receiving equipment at no cost, at least initially, with professional installation including an integrated Wi-Fi router. NBN Co’s regional chief, Gavin Williams, has described the cost of entry from NBN’s point of view as “zero” for the customer.
  • Wholesale pricing at or below today’s Sky Muster Plus prices. NBN Co is proposing to price its introductory NBN Leo plans for existing satellite customers who upgrade early at less than or equal to the FY26 wholesale price of Sky Muster Plus services. The proposed wholesale prices are: $35.84 a month for existing 12/1 and 25/5 Mbps customers moving to 50/10; $46.08 a month for existing Sky Muster Plus 50/10 customers moving to the equivalent 50/10 Leo tier; and at or below $66.56 a month — the current Sky Muster Plus 100 wholesale price — for existing Sky Muster Plus 100/5 customers moving to 100/20.
  • The 90-day window. That pricing is proposed to hold for the first two financial years after launch, indexed to inflation — but only for customers who place an order within 90 days of launch. Miss the window and the pricing protection does not apply.
  • Up to 30 days of overlap. Individual customers will get up to 30 days where the old and new services both run, so the cutover does not leave them offline.
  • Rollout order: south to north. Trials begin in Tasmania, and the rollout then progresses across the satellite footprint as capacity becomes available. Remote properties in northern Australia will be the last to move.
  • Sky Muster keeps running. NBN Co has committed to operate the Sky Muster satellites until at least 2028, and the satellites have fuel for roughly six more years. Nobody is being switched off next month.

What is still to be confirmed

  • Retail pricing. No provider has announced what an NBN Leo plan will actually cost a household. The wholesale figures above are what your provider pays NBN Co, not what you pay your provider. Retail pricing will be set by providers, and it has not been announced. Any page quoting a retail NBN Leo price today is guessing.
  • The exact launch date. “Around mid-2027” is NBN Co’s current wording. The original target was mid-2026. The delay has been attributed to satellite launch delays, a rocket failure, and regulatory issues. Amazon needs roughly 600 satellites in orbit to start the Australian operation; it has around 400 active production satellites, with more launches planned. The constellation is planned to eventually exceed 3,200 satellites.
  • Which providers will sell it. NBN Co says eligible customers will connect “through participating Australian internet providers”. The participating list has not been published. Expect the usual Sky Muster retailers — Skymesh, Activ8me, and others — to be first, but nothing is confirmed.
  • The Sky Muster shutdown date. This is where published pages disagree most. Some say Sky Muster will be decommissioned by the end of 2027; NBN Co says it will keep operating the satellites until at least 2028, with end of life in the early 2030s, and iTnews reports NBN Co hopes to complete customer migrations in the fourth quarter of 2027 with decommissioning starting a year later. The honest summary: NBN Co’s commitment is “until at least 2028”; the exact shutdown date depends on how the migration goes. Treat any page giving a single hard shutdown date as overstating what is known.
  • Higher speed tiers. NBN Co has said faster options will be considered in a later stage of the LEO roadmap. Amazon’s terminal range includes a “Pro” tier rated around 400 Mbps, but no Australian NBN Leo tier above 100/20 has been announced.

The timeline, as it stands

  • August 2025: NBN Co announces the Amazon partnership (then Project Kuiper), targeting mid-2026. Starlink, which already sells satellite internet across Australia, did not bid in NBN Co’s tender. Amazon was selected after a request for information and a formal tender; the agreement runs five years with options beyond that term.
  • November 2025: Project Kuiper is rebranded Amazon Leo.
  • February 2026: NBN Co opens industry consultation with proposed wholesale pricing and the 90-day early-switch window.
  • July–September 2026: Proof-of-concept trials in Tasmania. NBN Co says it remains on track for testing and trials in the second half of 2026.
  • Around mid-2027: Progressive rollout begins across the satellite footprint, south to north.
  • Fourth quarter 2027 (target): Customer migrations complete, per NBN Co’s stated hope.
  • 2028 onwards: Sky Muster decommissioning begins; satellites projected to reach end of life in the early 2030s.

NBN Leo vs Starlink: the decision a Sky Muster household faces

Starlink is available at your address today. NBN Leo is not, and will not be for roughly another nine months at the earliest. That is the whole decision in one sentence — but the details change the answer for different households.

Speed: Starlink’s Residential Max plan averaged 230.4 Mbps download in the ACCC’s final Measuring Broadband Australia report — more than double NBN Leo’s top launch tier of 100/20. Even Starlink’s cheaper Residential tier is typically faster than 100 Mbps. If raw download speed is your priority, Starlink wins today and will still win when NBN Leo launches, because NBN Leo’s introductory tiers cap at 100/20.

Latency: Both are LEO systems. Starlink measured around 26 ms in the ACCC report; NBN Leo is expected around 60 ms. Both are vastly better than Sky Muster’s ~600 ms. For video calls and gaming, either is a transformation. The difference between them is not decision-relevant for most households.

Price: Starlink’s Australian pricing is $75, $110, or $150 a month depending on tier, plus a $549 kit (or $15 a month rental) and $19 shipping. NBN Leo’s retail pricing is unknown, but its proposed wholesale prices ($35.84 to at most $66.56) suggest retail plans could land at or below today’s Sky Muster Plus retail prices — potentially cheaper than Starlink’s mid and top tiers. The catch is that “potentially” is doing all the work: nobody has published a retail NBN Leo price, so a like-for-like price comparison is impossible today.

Equipment and installation: NBN Leo’s headline advantage. Free equipment and professional installation for eligible existing Sky Muster customers, versus Starlink’s $549 kit (or rental) and self-installation. For a household that does not want to climb on the roof, that matters.

Support and continuity: NBN Leo keeps you in the NBN ecosystem — your existing provider, NBN Co’s nationwide assurance program, and a professional install. Starlink means a direct relationship with SpaceX, with support handled through the Starlink app.

The framework: If you are on Sky Muster today and your connection works — you browse, stream, and work acceptably, and the 600 ms latency is an annoyance rather than a blocker — waiting for NBN Leo is rational. You get free equipment, professional installation, uncapped data, and pricing protection if you move inside the 90-day window. If your connection is actively failing you — video calls drop, uploads stall, the kids cannot game, or you run a business that needs real-time connectivity — waiting nine-plus months for a 100/20 tier that is slower than Starlink’s mid-tier makes no sense. Switch to Starlink now; NBN Leo will still be there later if you want to compare again once retail prices are published. Read our Starlink Australia guide for the full Starlink pricing and plan breakdown, and our Telstra Starlink vs direct Starlink comparison if you are weighing the Telstra-bundled option.

What to do now

  1. If you are on Sky Muster: nothing is required of you today. NBN Co says there are no changes to Sky Muster services, and the satellites will keep operating until at least 2028. You can register interest on NBN Co’s website to be notified when NBN Leo reaches your area.
  2. Watch for the 90-day window. The wholesale pricing protection only applies if you order within 90 days of launch. When NBN Co announces a launch date, that clock starts. We will update this article when it does.
  3. Do not buy equipment for Sky Muster now. If you were considering a new Sky Muster dish or installation, wait — NBN Co is proposing to replace existing customers’ equipment at no cost as part of the migration.
  4. If you cannot wait: Starlink is available today at your address, and our Fixed Wireless guide covers the other alternative if your address is eligible for NBN Fixed Wireless.

What this means for you

  • NBN Leo is real, funded, and in testing — but its launch has slipped from mid-2026 to around mid-2027, and retail prices are still unannounced.
  • The confirmed wholesale terms are genuinely good for existing Sky Muster customers: uncapped data, 50/10 or 100/20 tiers, free equipment and install, and two years of pricing protection — if you move within 90 days of launch.
  • Sky Muster will keep running until at least 2028. There is no cliff edge and no reason to panic-switch.
  • Starlink is faster today (230 Mbps average on the Max tier vs NBN Leo’s 100 Mbps ceiling) and available now, but you pay for the kit and install it yourself.
  • The decision is about your patience, not your loyalty: if Sky Muster works well enough, wait; if it is failing you, switch now and re-evaluate NBN Leo once retail prices exist.

Shoaib Hassan

Shoaib Hassan is the founder and editor of AuTechWire, an independent technology publication covering broadband, mobile networks, privacy, startups, and consumer tech.

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