Amazon has launched its first test satellites for Project Kuiper, its ambitious internet service project aimed at competing with SpaceX’s broadband network.
Amazon sent the satellites into space aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Project Kuiper plans to deploy approximately 3,236 satellites around Earth to enhance global internet coverage, with a targeted start date of late 2024.
Key points:
- Amazon’s Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida with two test satellites
- The e-commerce and web services company is aiming to offer broadband internet globally by late next year
- Amazon says it will invest $16 billion into its satellite project but it is several years behind Elon Musk’s SpaceX in development
Amazon has invested $10 billion in this project. While SpaceX already has a head start with its Starlink network.
Amazon is determined to expand its presence in the space industry, with Jeff Bezos, the founder, also involved in ventures like Blue Origin, which offers space tourism through the New Shepard capsule system.
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The Federal Communications Commission has set requirements for Project Kuiper to have at least half of its planned satellites operational by 2026 and all of them by 2029.
Amazon has secured 77 launches from ULA, Blue Origin, and Arianespace to achieve its satellite deployment goals.
