Amazon Launched The First Project Kuiper Internet Satellites
After years of development, the moment has finally arrived: Amazon sends two of its Kuiper test satellites into space as the company looks to challenge incumbent SpaceX with its own constellation of internet satellites.
The rocket, along with the test satellites, launched from the launch site at Cape Canaveral in Florida at 14:06 East Coast time.
The current mission is called Protoflight, which is symbolic because prototypes of Internet satellites were sent into orbit, designed to conduct a series of tests, including checking the ability of spacecraft to connect to ground stations and client terminals. Amazon’s ultimate goal is to create a constellation of 3,236 communications satellites in low Earth orbit, which will provide broadband Internet access even in hard-to-reach areas of our planet where conventional providers cannot access.
According to available data, Kuiper Internet satellites weigh between 589 and 680 kg. In 2022, Amazon signed contracts with several companies to conduct 83 space launches to deliver its telecommunications devices into orbit. The multibillion-dollar contracts involve Blue Origin’s New Glen, Arianespace’s Ariane 6 and ULA’s Vulcan rockets to build the orbital constellation.
In 2020, Amazon said it would invest more than $10 billion in Kuiper for its ground network, satellite testing and production, and user terminals.
