Amazon’s Kuiper Satellites To Get Boost From Rival Spacex

Amazon’s title to situation SpaceX successful orbit is getting a helping manus from its main competitor: SpaceX itself, which will motorboat nan adjacent batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper net satellites skyward connected Wednesday.

A flock of 24 Kuiper net satellites will thrust aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket earlier dawn. The mission, dubbed KF-01, has a 27-minute motorboat model that opens astatine 2:18 AM ET and will assistance disconnected from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Once complete, it will bring nan full number of Kuiper satellites connected orbit to 78. Amazon yet plans to deploy much than 3,200 spacecraft successful its first procreation constellation successful debased Earth orbit, aiming to liking a superior declare successful nan outer net marketplace — a marketplace that is presently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink’s web of astir 8,000 satellites.

While Kuiper and SpaceX whitethorn make for unusual bedfellows, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon inked a three-launch deal pinch SpaceX backmost successful December 2023. That statement came scarcely 2 months aft nan e-commerce elephantine faced a lawsuit from shareholders complete an earlier determination not to see SpaceX erstwhile it doled retired its first information of lucrative motorboat contracts, moreover though nan Falcon 9 is nan astir reliable rocket flying today.

The drawback is, astatine slightest half of Kuiper’s first constellation must beryllium deployed by by nan extremity of July 2026, per its licence from nan U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The timepiece is ticking: among nan different selected motorboat providers — United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, and Blue Origin — only ULA has an operational rocket disposable to transportation satellites to orbit. ULA launched nan first 2 batches of Kuiper satellites; nan first batch launched successful April.

Blue Origin, Bezos’ different company, will yet transportation Kuiper satellites connected its monolithic New Glenn rocket, but it has only flown erstwhile truthful far, and it did not negociate to retrieve nan booster. The 2nd motorboat is presently scheduled for August 15.