Amazon Secures Deal to Launch Majority of 3,200 Project Kuiper Internet Satellites

SpaceX has launched more than 2,300 Starlink internet satellites into orbit and has plans to deploy as many as 30,000. However, the satellites have already caused problems for astronomers, and the US space agency NASA has warned that more could pose a danger to orbital infrastructures. Now Amazon is set to join the internet satellite race.

Ecommerce and web services giant Amazon announced on Tuesday that it has secured launches for most of the 3,236 satellites for Project Kuiper, its $10 billion competitor in scalable internet services to SpaceX’s Starlink network.

Most of the launches will be on United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rockets, with the rest using Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn, the latter of which is also owned by Amazon's founder and chairman Jeff Bezos. The launches are scheduled over the next five years. However, none of the three rockets are in service yet, making the launches very prospective.

An Amazon spokesperson told SpaceNews the company “has talked to every major launch provider and they will continue to explore all options for future launch services.”

“Project Kuiper will leverage Amazon’s global logistics and operations footprint to provide excellent customer service, and Amazon Web Services will provide networking and infrastructure to serve a diverse, global customer base. We’ll also apply Amazon’s experience producing low-cost devices and services like Echo and Kindle to deliver broadband service at an affordable, accessible price for customers,” Amazon said in the news release.

“Once deployed, the Kuiper System will serve individual households, as well as schools, hospitals, businesses, disaster relief efforts, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable broadband,” it added.

According to the US Federal Communications Commission, about 6% of the US population doesn’t have access to broadband internet service and about 30% of the country doesn’t use it at all.

The network is named after 20th-century Dutch astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who is considered the father of modern planetary science. The Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune’s orbit, is similar to the asteroid belt and is also named after the astronomer.

Amazon is aiming to compete with the more established SpaceX in the race to dominate the satellite internet market. SpaceX has launched more than 2,300 Starlink internet satellites into LEO, although about 200 have failed for various reasons.

The huge number of satellites has already caused problems for stargazers and astronomers alike, and China’s Tiangong space station had to adjust course at least twice last year to avoid Starlink satellites.