Amazon informed in a statement that the mission “Kuiper Atlas 1” will be fired on April 9 from the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida, “Reuters said.
Contract Amazon 3,000 communication satellites on a low orbit He signed in 2022. The whole operation is dealt with by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Such a large constellation is to provide fast internet around the world and It will allow Amazon competition with the Spacex Starlink network. The first 27 satellites will take the Atlas 5 rocket to the orbit.
As he assures in a statement cited by the Reuters Rajeev Badyal agency, Amazon Kuiper vice president, before firing the first mission, the company conducted extensive tests on Earth. However, according to Badyal, not everything can be checked in these conditions. He also added that no matter how the mission will go, this is just the beginning, and the company has everything you need to draw conclusions and adapt to subsequent starts in the coming years.
Kiiper project
The Kiiper Amazon project was announced in 2019. The company planned to invest $ 10 billion in the development of the satellite network. In the year of announcement of the Amazon project, a team of engineers, dismissed a year earlier by Elon Musk, who managed the Starlink project.
Amazon believes that in the near future it may successfully compete with the Starlink system. As the advantages that give the advantage over SpaceX in attracting customers, the company lists its dominant position on the network services market. In addition, as Amazon claims, the company has Experience in mass production of consumer terminals and small antennas.
Reuters reminds that in 2022 the company reserved 83 rockets from Ula, French Arianespace and Blue Origin, a cosmic company Jeff Bezos. Until now, two prototype satellites have been launched in 2023. The tests were positive.
Source: Reuters
