Amazon may be quick to drop off a package at your doorstep, but it has taken years for the company to finally be ready to deliver its satellites to space. The Jeff Bezos-led company is gearing up for the launch of the first batch of its internet satellites to low Earth orbit, hoping for a chance to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper is set to launch its first full batch of satellites on Wednesday, April 9, at 12 p.m. ET. The satellites will be tucked inside a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After lift off, the rocket will attempt to deploy all 27 satellites to an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth, according to Amazon.
The mission, named “KA-01” for Kuiper Atlas 1, has been a long time in the making and Amazon is eager to enter into the satellite broadband market. That market is currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 7,000 satellites to orbit to provide high-speed internet to 70 countries. Musk wants to launch 42,000 satellites to finish off the mega constellation, but so far the Federal Communications Commission has granted SpaceX the license for 12,000 first-generation satellites and an additional 7,500 for its second-generation constellation.
Project Kuiper, on the other hand, is not aiming for those high numbers. Instead, Amazon wants to launch 3,200 low Earth orbit satellites, securing 80 upcoming launches with multiple commercial providers, including Arianespace, ULA, and Bezos’ other space venture, Blue Origin, to form its initial constellation.
Amazon already launched two prototype satellites, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, on an Atlas V rocket in late 2023. The test mission was successful, with the two satellites pulling off controlled maneuvering in low Earth orbit.
The Kuiper satellites will orbit at an altitude that’s between 367 and 391 miles (590 and 630 km) above Earth. The satellites are built with an active propulsion system, which includes a custom thruster built in-house and a krypton-filled propellant tank, to combat atmospheric drag and maintain satellite altitude within 5.6 miles (9 km) of target operational orbits.
The upcoming launch is a major step for Amazon, but it still has a lot of catching up to do compared to its competition. Amazon, however, has marketed Project Kuiper as “affordable broadband,” saying that its standard terminals will cost around $400 to manufacture, which would make them less expensive than SpaceX’s kits, according to The Verge. In addition to customer terminals, Amazon will also use a network of ground-based antennas and fiber connections to deliver connectivity. The company claims that its internet service has the potential to deliver speeds up to 400 megabits per second, which is significantly faster than the current speed delivered by Starlink—upwards of 300 Mbps with standard service, according to Tom’s Guide.
Project Kuiper aims to deliver internet services to homes, businesses, government agencies, and other institutions. Vodafone and its African branch, Vodacom, have partnered with Amazon to use Project Kuiper to expand its 4G/5G networks.
That sounds like a lot of good promises from Amazon, but only time will tell if it can deliver and be able to compete with Starlink’s expanding influence. This first launch should be a good indicator.
“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built,” Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper, said in a statement. “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.”
