Your Amazon order of web satellite prototypes have shipped.
Greater than 4 years for the reason that tech giant announced its ambitious plan to speculate heavily in constructing a world satellite web network, Amazon on Friday saw the primary pair of satellites for its Project Kuiper system launch into space.
“We have done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there is not any substitute for on-orbit testing,” Project Kuiper vice chairman of technology Rajeev Badyal said in an announcement before the launch.
United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the primary two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband web constellation stands ready for launch on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 5, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States.Â
Paul Hennessey | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the primary two demonstration satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband web constellation stands ready for launch on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 5, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States.Â
Paul Hennessey | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Amazon twice switched rides for the pair of satellites before finally deciding to go together with the immediately available, albeit far overpowered, Atlas V rocket for the Protoflight mission. Amazon originally planned to launch on ABL Space’s RS1 rocket, before delays in RS1’s development moved the satellites to United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, but delays to Vulcan’s debut moved the satellites to Atlas V.
Information in regards to the size and design of the pair of Amazon’s satellites has been scarce – with the corporate only sharing photos of the shipping containers that delivered the spacecraft to Florida. Even ULA’s details in regards to the launch are limited, with the information provided comparable to when the rocket company flies classified spy satellites for the U.S. government.
Last yr, Amazon announced the most important corporate rocket deal within the industry’s history to launch Kuiper satellites, signing launch contracts with ULA, Arianespace, and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. As a part of that deal, Amazon expects to pay about $7.4 billion for Kuiper launches over the following five years.Â
It has booked 77 launches – deals that include options for more launches when needed – from that trio of firms to deploy the satellites fast enough to fulfill regulatory requirements. That massive purchase has come under scrutiny from an Amazon shareholder lawsuit, which alleges the corporate snubbed SpaceX for priceless satellite launch contracts due to Jeff Bezos’ personal rivalry with Elon Musk.
Amazon is playing catch as much as SpaceX, which has grown its Starlink satellite web service to greater than 2 million customers. Crucially, SpaceX says it isn’t any longer absorbing the associated fee of the Starlink antennas it sells with the service, and the greater than 5,000 satellites its launched up to now now serve consumer, enterprise, and government customers.
Earlier this week, Amazon reiterated that its first production Kuiper satellites are on course to launch in the primary half of next yr – with plans to start beta testing the network with customers by the tip of 2024.
The “ultra-compact” version of the Project Kuiper
Amazon
Protoflight represents an “end-to-end” test of Kuiper. Amazon will look to confirm the prototype satellites can connect with ground antennas and relay that connectivity on to its small customer terminals.
This yr Amazon revealed a trio of satellite antennas that it plans to sell to Kuiper customers. The corporate has yet to say what it expects to charge customers for the hardware or service. Earlier field testing of Amazon’s Kuiper antennas saw download speeds of as much as 400 Mbps.
The corporate’s major Kuiper facilities are near Seattle – within the Washington cities of Redmond and Kirkland. Amazon has other locations in San Diego, Austin, Texas, Latest York City and Washington, D.C.
