Amazon plans to launch 27 low-Earth orbit satellites this night as a part of Undertaking Kuiper. The launch window is about for Wednesday, April 9, between 7 and 9 p.m. ET (4 to six p.m. PT), relying on climate and different components.
The launch mission, “KA-01” or Kuiper Atlas 1, will probably be on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and can happen at Cape Canaveral House Drive Station, Amazon stated. There is a mission web page for updates on the launch and plans to livestream the takeoff.
You may watch the rocket launch dwell on the mission web page or on YouTube.
It will be an enormous step ahead for the challenge, which Amazon introduced in 2019 with guarantees of a $10 billion funding. Now the corporate is poised to enter the race to supply satellite tv for pc web service, an area at present dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink, which has about 7,000 satellites. Amazon’s plans name for 3,200 satellites to be deployed over 80 launches. The corporate intends to supply web service with this know-how later this 12 months.
Extra competitors will enhance web providers
The literal house race, which incorporates Starlink, Amazon and different firms reminiscent of Viasat, HughesnetEutelsat and China’s SpaceSail, might imply extra availability of web service in far-flung and rural areas which have restricted broadband choices. Although Starlink is the chief within the house, a few of these different firms are persevering with to launch satellites and dealing to deploy high-speed web in additional markets reminiscent of Brazil. With extra gamers out there, that might imply quicker and cheaper web in additional areas, though whether or not that really bears out for customers stays to be seen.
Mahdi Eslamimehr, govt vice chairman at Quandary Peak Analysis and adjunct professor on the Division of Laptop Science at USC, stated Amazon is properly poised to go up towards Starlink. “Amazon has made in depth launch agreements with main suppliers reminiscent of United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, Blue Origin, and even SpaceX itself, positioning Kuiper as a significant challenger as a consequence of its expansive infrastructure and vital sources.”
He stated, “Whereas Starlink at present enjoys clear market management, it faces growing competitors from well-capitalized and strategically agile rivals, particularly from China, suggesting the market will grow to be significantly extra aggressive within the close to future.”
Amazon’s satellite tv for pc efforts to this point, Eslamimehr stated, have been promising and profitable, not less than within the prototype levels. The corporate has additionally been testing Amazon Internet Providers in house. “These developments collectively underscore Amazon’s strong entry into the satellite tv for pc web market and mirror optimistic early momentum in its total house technique.”
Past the way it fares towards Starlink and different firms, the Amazon satellite tv for pc launches are vital in different methods. Eslamimehr stated, “Undertaking Kuiper is not nearly competitors; it is positioned as a crucial step towards closing the worldwide digital divide, promising to ship high-speed web to underserved communities worldwide.”
Correction, April 4: An earlier model of this story misspelled the identify of the USC professor and Quandary Peak Analysis govt vice chairman. His identify is Mahdi Eslamimehr.
