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Amazon satellites go into orbit, boosting Starlink rivalry

Atlas V rocket launch with Project Kuiper satellites
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket sends Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites into space. (ULA Photo)

A powerful rocket sent the first batch of 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network into low Earth orbit today, marking a milestone in the company’s multibillion-dollar bid to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

Today’s liftoff came nearly three weeks after the first attempt was scrubbed due to weather concerns. This time, the clouds and rain showers stayed far enough away for United Launch Alliance to launch its Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:01 p.m. ET (4:01 p.m. PT). ULA used its most powerful version of the Atlas, with five solid-rocket boosters attached to the first stage.

“Go Atlas … Go Centaur … Go KA-01,” launch managers declared in the final seconds before liftoff.

The rocket’s Centaur upper stage delivered Amazon’s satellites to an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers). In a posting to Threads, ULA said the satellites were deployed successfully. And in an online update, Amazon said its team “established contact with all 27 satellites, and initial deployment and activation sequences are proceeding nominally.”

The satellites will use their onboard electric propulsion systems to settle into their final intended orbits of 392 miles (630 kilometers) under the management of Project Kuiper’s mission operations team in Redmond, Wash.

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Amazon sets a date for milestone Kuiper satellite launch

Delivery of Amazon Project Kuiper payload to Florida launch facility
United Launch Alliance delivers the Kuiper-1 payload to its Vertical Integration Facility in Florida. (ULA Photo)

Update: The April 9 launch attempt was scrubbed due to weather concerns, but Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites were sent into orbit on April 28.

Amazon and United Launch Alliance have set April 9 as the date for the first launch of full-scale satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband internet network.

ULA said the three-hour window for the Atlas V rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida is scheduled to open at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) that day. ULA is planning a live stream of launch coverage via its website starting about 20 minutes ahead of liftoff.

Amazon said next week’s mission — known as Kuiper-1 or KA-1 (for Kuiper Atlas 1) — will put 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers).

ULA launched two prototype Kuiper satellites into orbit for testing in October 2023, but KA-1 will mark Amazon’s first full-scale launch of a batch of operational satellites designed to bring high-speed internet access to millions of people around the world.

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Amazon ships satellites for Kuiper broadband network

Amazon Project Kuiper satellites being prepared for shipping
Project Kuiper satellites are packed inside containers for transport to Florida. (Amazon Photo)

Amazon is providing a sneak peek at the satellites that are being shipped to Florida for the launch of its Project Kuiper broadband network — well, maybe not the satellites, but at least their containers.

“Late last year, we began shipping flight-ready satellites, and even more have been on their way in recent weeks,” the Project Kuiper team said in a posting to LinkedIn.

The first batch of production-level satellites is due for launch sometime in the next few months on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That’ll follow up on the successful testing of two prototype satellites that were launched on an Atlas V in October 2023.

Eventually, 3,232 satellites are slated to go into orbit to provide high-speed internet service. Under the terms of Amazon’s license from the Federal Communications Commission, half of those satellites are to be launched by mid-2026.

Project Kuiper would provide added competition for SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently dominates the market for satellite broadband connectivity with 5 million subscribers. Amazon is planning to start rolling out Project Kuiper services by the end of this year.

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Amazon revs up for the internet satellite market

Atlas V launch of prototype Amazon Kuiper satellites in 2023
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket sends two prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to orbit in 2023. (ULA Photo)

Get ready for Amazon’s Project Kuiper to pick up the pace in the megaconstellation space race.

So far, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite megaconstellation has dominated the market for broadband connectivity from low Earth orbit. In the nearly 10 years since SpaceX founder Elon Musk unveiled the project in Seattle, the Starlink network has attracted more than 5 million subscribers and more than $2 billion in U.S. government contracts (including work on the Starshield national security network).

But the year ahead promises to bring heightened competition: Like Starlink, Project Kuiper aims to offer high-speed internet access from the skies for hundreds of millions of people around the world who are currently underserved.

Following up on last year’s successful test of two prototype satellites, Amazon plans to begin launching operational Kuiper satellites in early 2025, with service due to begin by the end of the year. Pricing details haven’t yet been announced, but Amazon says “affordability is a key principle of Project Kuiper.”

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Blue Origin wins a new customer for New Glenn launches

Illustration: AST SpaceMobile satellites in orbit
An artist’s conception shows AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird satellites in orbit. (AST SpaceMobile Illustration)

AST SpaceMobile plans to use Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket to launch some of the satellites for its space-based cellular broadband network in 2025 and 2026.

New Glenn has been under development at Jeff Bezos’ privately held space venture for more than a decade. Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin says the orbital-class rocket’s first launch is “on track” to take place this year at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Texas-based AST SpaceMobile is one of several satellite companies that have struck deals for New Glenn launches in advance of the rocket’s first mission.

“New Glenn’s performance and unprecedented capacity within its seven-meter fairing enables us to deploy more of our Block 2 BlueBird satellites in orbit, helping provide continuous cellular broadband service coverage across some of the most in-demand cellular markets globally,” Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

“It’s an honor to support AST SpaceMobile’s deployment of their next-generation BlueBird satellites, which will expand connectivity across the globe and positively impact many lives,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said. “New Glenn is purpose-built for these kinds of innovative and ambitious missions.”

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Report focuses in on Amazon’s costly satellite project

ULA Atlas V rocket launches Amazon Project Kuiper satellites in October
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifts off with two prototype Amazon satellites in October 2023. (ULA Photo)

A newly published market analysis of Amazon’s Project Kuiper effort to create a global satellite broadband network estimates the cost of getting the project off the ground at $16.5 billion to $20 billion — which is significantly higher than the $10 billion figure cited by the company four years ago.

In its analysis, Florida-based Quilty Space projects that launch costs alone will amount to $10 billion or more. Most of those launches are to be done by United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket, which has executed only one space launch to date; and by Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, which is still in development. Other launches will be taken on by ULA’s Atlas V and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 (which are tried and true), plus Arianespace’s Ariane 6 (which had its debut liftoff in July).

Project Kuiper aims to put 3,232 satellites into low Earth orbit to support a high-speed internet network that could serve tens of millions of users around the world — and, not incidentally, provide infrastructure for Amazon Web Services and for other current or future offerings from Amazon. Under the terms of Amazon’s license from the Federal Communications Commission, half of those satellites must be launched by mid-2026.

Two prototype Kuiper satellites were successfully launched on an Atlas V last year, and Amazon says another Atlas V is to send the first operational satellites into orbit by the end of this year. The current schedule calls for broadband services to be offered to customers starting sometime next year.

Amazon is well behind SpaceX and its Starlink satellite broadband network, which has more than 6,000 satellites in orbit. Quilty’s financial analysis says Starlink “will exit 2024 with 3.9M subscribers, revenues of $6.6B, and positive free cash flows.” But Quilty suggests that there’s still room in the market for Project Kuiper.

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Amazon plans to expand its satellite facility in Florida

Aerial view of Project Kuiper satellite processing facility
Project Kuiper’s satellite processing center is taking shape in Florida. (Amazon Photo)

Amazon plans to build a secondary support facility for its Project Kuiper satellite processing center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida — a $19.5 million expansion plan that brings total investment in the site to nearly $140 million.

The 42,000-square-foot building will be placed next to the existing 100,000-square-foot structure at the satellite processing facility, Amazon said today in a blog posting. It’s meant to provide additional space for processing and storing flight hardware ahead of launch, allowing for a regular cadence of missions to deploy Project Kuiper’s 3,232-satellite constellation.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s multibillion-dollar effort to provide broadband internet service around the globe via satellites in low Earth orbit. It’s viewed as a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink network, which already has more than 6,000 satellites in orbit and more than 3 million subscribers.

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Get a peek at Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite factory

Vacuum chambers in the space simulation lab. (Amazon Photo)
Vacuum chambers are lined up in the space simulation lab at Amazon's satellite factory. (Amazon Photo)

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Amazon gave U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and other VIPs a sneak peek at the company’s Project Kuiper satellite factory, where thousands of spacecraft are to be manufactured for a global broadband network.

Today’s event included remarks by local officials as well as a ribbon-cutting ceremony — but access to sensitive areas of the 172,000-square-foot facility was limited due to concerns about confidentiality and export control requirements.

The factory, which quietly began operations in April, serves as the manufacturing hub for Amazon’s satellite project. Work is also being done at Project Kuiper’s 219,000-square-foot headquarters in nearby Redmond.

Last year, Amazon successfully tested two Redmond-built prototype satellites in orbit. Now full-scale manufacturing is ramping up in Kirkland, with the first completed production satellites due to be shipped to Florida this summer.

Cantwell noted that the state’s aerospace sector is a $70 billion industry that supports 250,000 jobs, and said that the Project Kuiper factory will add to Washington’s technological prowess.

“We like to say we’re the Silicon Valley of space here in Puget Sound,” she said. “And Kirkland now is joining the fight, helping us deliver not just better service, but a skilled workforce and great attention to how the United States is going to be very competitive in space communication.”

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Amazon to provide satellite connectivity in South America

Amazon and Vrio execs at Seattle Spheres
Executives meet up at Amazon’s HQ in Seattle to work on plans to bridge the digital divide. From left: Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper; Vrio President Dario Werthein; and Panos Panay, senior vice president of Amazon Devices & Services. (Business Wire Photo)

Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband network has been tapped to provide internet connectivity to customers in seven South American countries, under the terms of a newly announced deal with Vrio Corp., the parent company of DirecTV Latin America and Sky Brasil.

Vrio plans to use the Kuiper network to serve residential customers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay. The area takes in about 383 million people, including tens of millions of people who still aren’t connected to the internet, according to World Bank estimates.

In a news release, Vrio President Dario Werthein said the collaboration with Project Kuiper addresses his company’s concerns about “bridging the technology gap and even more so the digital divide for our future generations.”

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Amazon’s Project Kuiper starts to deorbit its test satellites

"Selfie" of Kuipersat taken in orbit, with Earth in background
One of Amazon’s prototype satellites is seen in an orbital “selfie” from October 2023. (Amazon Photo)

After a series of successful tests, Amazon says it has begun the monthslong process of bringing two prototype satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation down from orbit.

“The last milestone in our Protoflight mission is deorbiting Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2,” Amazon said in an online update.

Project Kuiper is Amazon’s $10 billion initiative to provide global high-speed internet service from low Earth orbit. The project has lagged behind SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, which already has more than 3 million customers and is partnering with T-Mobile, But Amazon has enlisted its own high-profile set of partners, including Verizon and Vodafone, and Project Kuiper’s pace has picked up over the past year.

The Kuipersat prototypes were launched in October to test the hardware and software systems that will be used for the full 3,232-satellite network. During a series of short-duration tests, they were used to transmit data for a streaming video, an Amazon purchase, a two-way video call and other applications. Amazon also tested a laser communication system for beaming data between satellites.

Project Kuiper’s orbital debris mitigation plan calls for deorbiting each satellite in its network within a year after its mission ends — which is why the controlled descent and safe disposal of the Kuipersats serve as an important final test. “This final phase in the Protoflight mission will allow us to collect data on the deorbit process as we gradually lower satellites from their initial target altitude,” Amazon said.

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