Amazon is accelerating its push into maritime satellite communications, with Pulsar International becoming an authorized reseller of its low-Earth-orbit satellite network, Amazon Leo.

Pulsar said it is the first authorized Amazon Leo reseller with an Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong, giving the company a local base to serve shipping customers across Asia and the Greater China region.

Under the agreement, Pulsar will offer Amazon Leo connectivity to commercial maritime customers for vessel communications, digital applications, onboard operations and crew welfare.

The deal is part of a broader maritime expansion by Amazon Leo. Earlier this year, Amazon also appointed ELCOME and MTN as maritime resellers, signaling that commercial shipping is becoming an important target market for its emerging LEO network.

Amazon Leo is designed to provide high-speed, low-latency satellite connectivity outside conventional terrestrial networks. Its Leo Ultra terminal is designed for download speeds of up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 400 Mbps, although actual performance will depend on network conditions and service availability.

A particularly important feature for shipping is its integration with Amazon Web Services. Amazon says customers will be able to connect vessels directly with corporate networks and AWS workloads, potentially supporting applications including voyage optimization, remote monitoring, cybersecurity, predictive maintenance and other cloud-based ship management systems.

From Starlink competition to multi-network shipping

Pulsar’s role is particularly interesting because the company already provides Starlink Maritime alongside services from other satellite operators.

This means Pulsar could potentially offer both Starlink and Amazon Leo to maritime customers.

Rather than being contradictory, this reflects a wider change in maritime communications.

As ships become increasingly dependent on digital systems, operators are seeking greater connectivity redundancy. Future vessels may combine several networks — including multiple LEO constellations, traditional GEO or L-band satellite systems and coastal 4G/5G — within a single managed communications architecture.

The competition may therefore be less about whether Amazon Leo replaces Starlink and more about how different satellite networks are combined onboard.

For service providers such as Pulsar, the business is also evolving from simply selling satellite bandwidth toward integrating and managing the ship’s entire connectivity environment.

Amazon builds its maritime presence

Amazon Leo still has considerable ground to make up against Starlink, which already has a significant installed base across commercial shipping.

But Amazon is steadily building both its satellite constellation and its maritime distribution network.

Pulsar’s Hong Kong presence adds an important Asian dimension, particularly given the city’s concentration of shipowners, ship managers, financiers and maritime service providers.

The agreement should not yet be interpreted as confirmation that Amazon Leo has formally entered the mainland Chinese satellite communications market, where regulatory approvals and service availability remain separate issues.

What it does show is that Amazon is increasingly serious about shipping.

As connected vessels generate more operational data and rely more heavily on cloud applications, reliable satellite connectivity is becoming part of the digital infrastructure of modern shipping.

Starlink and Amazon Leo may compete in space, but in the emerging multi-network maritime environment, they could eventually find themselves operating on the same ships.