Amazon has delayed the launch of the first batch of broadband satellites under its Project Kuiper until the fourth quarter of this year.

Project Kuiper is a rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites which offers a similar service.

Amazon had previously said that the project would launch in the first half of this year, before now confirming that it is pushing back the launch.

It aims to start the first customer tests of its Project Kuiper network in 2025, according to production operations chief Steve Metayer.

Commercial service, which can begin gradually once Amazon has hundreds of satellites in the air, will follow later in 2025.

The low-Earth-orbit satellites will bring broadband access to areas that do not presently have a reliable internet connection.

Project Kuiper’s license with the Federal Communications Commission, received in 2020, requires it to have 1,600 satellites in space by mid-2026. Ultimately, Amazon aims to provide broadband internet from a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites.

It launched two prototypes in October. Amazon is now retiring those those satellites and focusing on ramping up manufacturing at its Kirkland, Washington, factory where it intends to eventually produce as many as five satellites a day.

Elon Musk has a significant lead in this space. His SpaceX flew its first Starlink satellites back in 2018 and has since then launched more than 5,000 satellites using its own rockets.