Starlink has been a game changer for those who can’t get traditional broadband options. It’s been discussed that Amazon has entered the satellite internet market for a few years. Today, that takes a big step toward becoming a reality. Project Kuiper, the first of 3,200 satellites to power Amazon services, is scheduled to launch next week.
Amazon is launching 80 launch missions to put its products into space. The KA-01 mission satellites will blast off using an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance. The launch is expected on April 9th from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Once the service becomes available, Amazon plans to make it available virtually anywhere. Like Starlink, users will need a dish to connect to the system. For now, services are expected to come with two sizes: a smaller dish capable of up t0 100Mpbs, and a larger one for residential.
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. “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.
