March 15, news, Amazon recently disclosed information about satellite Internet Project Kuiper (Kuiper plan). Amazon plans to start mass production of satellites by the end of 2023, launch the first batch of satellites in the first half of next year, and begin to provide its first customers with satellite Internet services.
In the next few months, Amazon will take the United Launch Alliance rocket to space to launch two prototype rockets.
The Kuiper Plan aims to provide fast, affordable broadband service to communities around the world that are currently underserved or underserved by traditional Internet and communications options. To achieve this, Amazon will deploy thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) connected to a global network of antennas, fiber optics and terrestrial Internet connections.
2018, Amazon began to develop the Project Kuiper project. In July 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted Amazon a license to deploy and operate the Project Kuiper satellite. The FCC license requires Amazon to deploy and operate at least half of its satellites by July 2026. "
's current main headquarters Project Kuiper R & D is in Redmond, Washington. In 2023, Project Kuiper will open a dedicated satellite production facility in Kirkland, Washington, to expand manufacturing capabilities. The facility will have the capacity to build up to four satellites per day. Project Kuiper has a team of more than 1000 world-class engineers, programmers and support staff.
Amazon is working with commercial launch providers to send Project Kuiper satellites into space. Amazon has announced contracts for as many as 92 heavy rocket launches. The company's launch partners include Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance.
Kuiper's initial satellite constellation design for Project includes 3236 satellites. The term "constellation" here refers to a group of similar satellites that provide reliable broadband coverage.
There are media reports that Amazon's plan is trying to catch up with Elon Musk's space exploration technology company SpaceX's Starlink (Star Chain). A SpaceX executive said that SpaceX has launched about 4000 satellites and has "far more than" 1 million Starlink users. Amazon has a long way to go to catch up with SpaceX.
Amazon has not revealed how it will price Kuiper, it says its customer terminals will cost less than $400 to make. If Amazon sells the terminal at cost, it may be lower than SpaceX's price. SpaceX charges US customers a one-time hardware fee of $599 and a monthly Internet service fee of $120.
Source: Telegraph