Project Kuiper is positioning itself in direct competition with SpaceX’s Starlink, which leads the market with the world’s largest active LEO satellite constellation of over 5,000 satellites
Amazon has confirmed that it will launch the first satellites of its orbital broadband constellation, Project Kuiper, later this month.
The mission, dubbed Kuiper Atlas 1 (KA-01), will see 27 satellites launched on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than 9th April.
This deployment is the start of full-scale production and deployment for Project Kuiper, which aims to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access to underserved regions worldwide. The company plans to deploy a total of over 3,200 LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites in its first constellation.
Following the initial launch, satellites will deploy into a 280 km parking orbit before reaching their final orbital altitude of 630 km. Once in place, they will travel at over 17,000 mph, orbiting Earth roughly every 90 minutes.
Amazon plans at least seven additional launches on the Atlas V, 38 launches via ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, and 30+ launches from other providers, including Arianespace, Blue Origin, and SpaceX.
“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper in a press release.
“We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once. No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years.”
The company says it expects to begin customer service rollout later this year. Amazon could launch satellite broadband later this month | Total Telecom
