The primary batch of 27 Venture Kuiper house web satellites are scheduled to launch next week. Amazon has secured 80 such launch missions that can every ship dozens of satellites into low earth orbit (LEO) to create a constellation able to competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink juggernaut. Amazon says it expects to start providing high-speed, low-latency web service “later this yr.”
The KA-01 mission satellites — quick for Kuiper Atlas 1 — will launch on an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance. It’s at the moment scheduled for 12pm ET on Wednesday, April ninth, assuming climate and know-how cooperate on the Cape Canaveral House Pressure Station in Florida. Amazon’s different Venture Kuiper launch companions embrace Arianespace, Blue Origin, and sure, SpaceX.
As a worldwide service providing, Amazon’s house web service will ultimately be accessible from “just about any location on the planet.” Customers will want terminal antennas to faucet into the satellite tv for pc constellation. In 2023, Amazon said that its smallest dish, a seven-inch sq. design weighing only one pound, would supply speeds as much as 100Mbps, making it a Starlink Mini different. Amazon will additional compete with SpaceX by providing bigger dishes for residential and enterprise use providing speeds as much as 1Gbps. Amazon expects to provide the terminals “for lower than $400 every,” which can or might not be backed to draw customers.
Amazon’s first-generation satellite tv for pc system will ultimately encompass greater than 3,200 LEO satellites, all flying at 17,000 mph (27,359 km/h), 392 miles (630km) above the Earth, and circling the planet in about 90 minutes. SpaceX’s Starlink constellation at the moment exceeds 7,000 LEO satellites, the primary of which launched in 2019.
Notably, the satellites flying on KA-01 are coated in a “dielectric mirror movie distinctive to Kuiper” that scatters mirrored daylight. That ought to assist make them much less seen to ground-based astronomers, based on Amazon.
Though Amazon already launched a pair of Venture Kuiper prototype satellites, its upcoming mission will embrace various firsts that introduce danger. “We’ve completed in depth testing on the bottom to organize for this primary mission, however there are some issues you may solely be taught in flight, and this would be the first time we’ve flown our remaining satellite tv for pc design and the primary time we’ve deployed so many satellites without delay,” stated Rajeev Badyal, vice chairman of Venture Kuiper.
“Regardless of how the mission unfolds, that is simply the beginning of our journey, and now we have all of the items in place to be taught and adapt as we put together to launch repeatedly over the approaching years.”