Amazon paid about $1.8 billion final yr to Blue Origin, the area firm owned by its founder and board chair Jeff Bezos — practically triple the quantity the yr earlier than — because the tech big ready to ramp up deployment of its personal low-Earth orbit satellite tv for pc constellation.
The rise comes as shareholders weigh a proposal calling for a compulsory impartial board chair, citing Bezos’ enterprise pursuits exterior Amazon as potential conflicts of curiosity.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in 2021 however stays government chairman.
In line with the submitting, the corporate paid roughly $2.2 billion complete underneath satellite tv for pc launch agreements in the course of the previous fiscal yr, with an estimated $1.8 billion going to Blue Origin. The prior yr’s proxy confirmed Blue Origin receiving about $578 million out of $1.7 billion complete.
Amazon is constructing a constellation of three,236 low-Earth orbit satellites underneath the Amazon Leo program, previously often known as Mission Kuiper, to beam broadband web to shoppers and companies. The corporate has deployed 243 satellites to date and has requested the FCC for a two-year extension on a July deadline to launch roughly half of the fleet.
The corporate this week additionally introduced a $10.8 billion deal this week to amass Globalstar, a satellite tv for pc operator that has used SpaceX as its major launch supplier.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket made its debut flight in January 2025 however has not but reached the launch cadence wanted for the rollout. Along with Blue Origin, Amazon has launch agreements in place with United Launch Alliance and Arianespace, and has additionally tapped Blue Origin rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for some launches, as Reuters reported this week.
Bezos can be co-founder and co-CEO of AI startup Mission Prometheus, a enterprise targeted on making use of AI to manufacturing and engineering throughout quite a lot of industrial sectors.
The shareholder proposal calling for a compulsory impartial chair, submitted by the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund, factors to Bezos’ increasing function exterior Amazon as trigger for concern.
“As a expertise firm, Mission Prometheus might be a possible competitor or a enterprise companion with our Firm, elevating potential conflicts of curiosity,” the proposal states, additionally citing Amazon’s multibillion-dollar launch agreements with Blue Origin as a possible battle.
It notes that Amazon additionally has performed enterprise with the Bezos-owned Washington Publish.
Amazon’s board recommends voting towards the proposal, arguing that its lead impartial director construction supplies enough oversight. The function is at the moment held by Jamie Gorelick, a former U.S. Deputy Lawyer Normal. The corporate’s annual assembly is ready for Could 20.
The Blue Origin contracts have drawn scrutiny earlier than. A shareholder lawsuit filed in 2023 alleged Amazon’s board spent lower than 40 minutes approving the launch agreements with out contemplating SpaceX as a substitute. Delaware’s Courtroom of Chancery dismissed the case, and the state Supreme Courtroom affirmed that ruling in November 2025.
