Amazon's Project Kuiper Takes Flight with First Internet Satellites in 2024
How Amazon's Satellite Project Kuiper Aims to Revolutionize Global Internet Connectivity
15 March 2023
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Kunal Tyagi
With Project Kuiper, Amazon intends to launch its first web satellites in H1 2024.
Almost 3,000 satellites will be launched into low-Earth orbit by the company in the next years.
A popular customer terminal and a bigger terminal for business and government users will be included in Amazon's terminals for connecting to the Kuiper spacecraft.
On Tuesday, Amazon.com revealed its ambitions to put its first web satellites into orbit in the first half of 2024 and start offering basic business examinations soon after. The pass is part of its Project Kuiper effort, which seeks to provide broadband access internationally and positions the organization to compete with companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Beginning with a pair of prototypes scheduled for flight early this year, the satellites will be mass built later this year. Amazon wants to launch nearly 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit in the next few years, to meet a regulatory obligation to launch 1/2 the full Kuiper community by 2026.
To meet its goal, Amazon intends to build "three to five" satellites every day, with over $10 billion projected to be invested in the Kuiper network. The company believes that its ability to produce countless numbers of devices from its client electronics sector gives it an advantage against SpaceX, whose Starlink community already has about 4,000 satellites in orbit.
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In addition, the company unveiled three terminals that would connect users to its Kuiper satellites in space. Customers will be able to access internet speeds of 400 megabits per second using the "standard patron terminal," which will cost Amazon less than $400 to construct every unit.
SpaceX's customer Starlink terminals, which are priced at $599 apiece, have been used via over a million customers to date, in accordance to Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX's head of Starlink business sales. Amazon's tiniest terminal will be it's most low priced and weigh just one pound.
The largest of Amazon's three terminals, which range in size from 19 to 30 inches, is designed for use with business, governmental, and telecommunications applications. It can provide internet rates of up to 1 gigabit per second, which is fast enough to download a high-definition full-length movie in around 30 seconds.
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