In October, Amazon launched a pair of two prototype satellites for its Project Kuiper network, and a month later, the e-commerce giant announced that the satellites are operating successfully. Taking a step forward in its mission to launch thousands of similar satellites to provide internet in remote areas, the company said that it signed a contract with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to take these satellites in orbit.
Amazon has booked three Falcon 9 launches with SpaceX that will help it deploy Project Kuiper satellite network. The move is significant because SpaceX – Amazon’s direct rival launches Starlink satellite for the same purpose aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.
“Our earlier procurement of 77 heavy-lift rockets from Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) provides enough capacity to launch the majority of our satellite constellation, and the additional launches with SpaceX offer even more capacity to support our deployment schedule,” the company said.
Amazon Project Kuiper
Amazon is working to build a constellation of 3,236 satellites placed in low Earth orbit to beam broadband internet globally and vowed to invest $10 billion into the project in 2019. It will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink network which already has some 5,000 satellites providing nearly global coverage.
Amazon has booked three Falcon 9 launches with SpaceX that will help it deploy Project Kuiper satellite network. The move is significant because SpaceX – Amazon’s direct rival launches Starlink satellite for the same purpose aboard the Falcon 9 rocket.
“Our earlier procurement of 77 heavy-lift rockets from Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) provides enough capacity to launch the majority of our satellite constellation, and the additional launches with SpaceX offer even more capacity to support our deployment schedule,” the company said.
Amazon Project Kuiper
Amazon is working to build a constellation of 3,236 satellites placed in low Earth orbit to beam broadband internet globally and vowed to invest $10 billion into the project in 2019. It will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink network which already has some 5,000 satellites providing nearly global coverage.
Amazon did not provide information of how many satellites it will put on three Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX, beginning in mid-2025.
Amazon’s ‘space company’ problem
In September, an Amazon shareholder filed a lawsuit against company founder Jeff Bezos and the Amazon board on awarding contracts worth billions of dollars to Blue Origin and not SpaceX to launch internet satellites as an alternative launch provider despite its track record.
An Amazon spokesperson said the claims are without merit and that the company “looks forward to showing that through the legal process”.
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