After a year-long delay, Amazon has successfully launched the first full batch of satellites for Project Kuiper, its satellite internet subsidiary hoping to take on Space X’s Starlink in the increasingly competitive industry.

The KA-01 mission saw Amazon and launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) deploy 27 satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in the first of at least 90 launches deploying its planned constellation of 3,236 satellites.

Before the launch, Project Kuiper VP Rajeev Badyal said: “We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design.”

Following the ULA managed launch and deployment sequence, control of the satellites was handed back to Kuiper’s ground team, which will now oversee the orbit-raising process to move the satellites from their deployment altitude at 450km to their assigned orbit at 630km.

While Kuiper launched its first two prototype satellites in 2023, both were “deorbited” after successful tests, including an end-to-end test of Amazon’s proposed data network.

The network will use the existing web of AWS ground stations to route internet up to the satellites and then back down to customer terminal antennas, which it is currently marketing to those living and working in hard to reach places.

AWS currently offers “ground station as a service” solutions to satellite companies, boasting a fully AWS-powered experience for satellite communications, data processing and fibre low latency network connections.

After previously expecting its first launch in 2024, Kuiper will be relieved to have seen ULA’s Atlas V rocket complete the first of nine missions for the company ahead of its retirement, after which the Amazon subsidiary has contracted ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket for another 38 launches.

The Kuiper satellites are built at its specially constructed facility in Kirkland, Washington and will be processed in a facility at the Kennedy Space Centre. Alongside ULA, Kuiper also has launch contracts with Europe’s Arianespace, rival SpaceX, and, unsurprisingly, the Jeff Bezos owned Blue Origin.

As per its license with the US FCC, Kuiper is required to launch at least half of its planned network by July 30 2026 and all remaining satellites by July 20 2019.

Exploding demand

Project Kuiper is one of many taking advantage of a boom in demand for internet satellite connectivity, as highlighted by Joanna Darlington, chief communications officer at European operator Eutelsat.

In an earlier conversation she told The Stack: “The demand for satellite connectivity is exploding … because satellites today can do things that they couldn't do in the past for airlines.

“And if we look ahead, think of connected cars, of trains, of internet connectivity everywhere, which is what people increasingly want. And most of that is being driven by LEO [networks].

While some Starlink customers have become nervous about Elon Musk's power over the company in recent months, the billionaire recently threatened to pull Starlink from Ukraine, Darlington warned anyone nervous about satellite sovereignty would not be appeased by Amazon's efforts.

Ever so slightly showing her European bias, she said: "If you're a bit sniffy about buying American, then that's not going to solve your problem."

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