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| Amazon begins its plan to cover the planet with the Internet |
Amazon has purchased nine launches from a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin ULA to send satellites to the Kuiper Project, which will broadcast the internet into space, the first launch deal for the e-commerce giant.
Amazon declined to disclose how many satellites were carrying each launch.
The company plans to build a constellation of 3,236 satellites in space to connect the Internet to rural areas with little or no connectivity.
The constellation also represents the major improvement in the AWS cloud computing platform infrastructure.
Since the FCC approved the launch of the satellite network in July 2020, detailed information about the network has been scarce.
Amazon also faces stiff competition from OneWeb and SpaceX, which provide high-speed internet networks in near-Earth orbit.
The Federal Communications Commission requires Amazon to launch at least half of its Kuiper network (about 1,618 satellites) by July 2026.
Amazon's Atlas V rocket mission could help achieve this, but the company could use other missiles as well.
To date, SpaceX is outpacing Amazon with its internet constellation and is currently using Falcon 9 rockets to ferry 1,355 from its 12,000 satellites to its Starlink network.
OneWeb has launched 146 satellites out of nearly 650 satellites planned for its network, and Telesat plans to launch another 300.
"The satellites of the project are designed to carry different types of missiles. However, the agreement with ULA gives us a reliable missile to launch rockets. Kuiper satellites for the first time," said Amazon Project Manager, Vice President of Kuiper Technology.
The Kuiper satellite orbits Earth at an altitude of 590 to 630 km.
According to Amazon, the Kuiper prototype has demonstrated speeds of up to 400Mbps and performance will continue to improve in the future.
Last year, the company revealed the antenna design that allows customers to use Kuiper Internet.
These antennas can also communicate with other satellites in geostationary or low orbits (at least 22,000 miles away).
Amazon has pledged to invest $ 10 billion in the Kuiper project, and more than 500 employees are doing the job. The team is committed to developing new technologies to make broadband affordable.
All of these companies' internet satellites operate in low earth orbits and are overwhelmed by the progress SpaceX has made in deploying Starlink satellites.