United Launch Alliance is due to send 27 Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit as Amazon begins a full-scale deployment of its satellite internet network
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Amazon’s satellite internet division, Kuiper, is set to launch 27 satellites into orbit today – the first step in building a network that it hopes will soon rival Starlink, but does it have a shot? We dig into the situation.
What is Kuiper?
In short, Kuiper is – or will be – a network of thousands of satellites that beam internet traffic around the world. This would allow people in remote regions to access the internet even without local infrastructure.
The idea is exactly the same as Starlink, the SpaceX-owned company that already provides such a service under the leadership of Elon Musk. Project Kuiper is a subsidiary of Amazon that was established in 2019 and is owned by a different billionaire: Jeff Bezos.
Amazon didn’t respond to New Scientist’s request for an interview, but the company has previously said that its satellites will travel at more than 27,000 kilometres per hour and circle Earth approximately every 90 minutes. To connect to the internet, customers will need to buy a small terminal and install it on a building’s roof.
When will it launch? And how can I watch it?
Kuiper is calling this first mission KA-01, for Kuiper Atlas 1, and it is scheduled for 7pm EDT on 9 April.
The satellites will be carried to orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Amazon says it will be the heaviest payload ever launched on that craft.
United Launch Alliance plans to livestream the flight on its website, starting 20 minutes before launch.
Is this Kuiper’s first launch?
Kuiper put two prototype satellites into orbit in October 2023, but this is the first launch of the final version, which the company says is “a significant upgrade”.
It has better solar panels, propulsion systems and communications equipment, but astronomers will be thankful that another new feature is a dielectric mirror film coating designed to scatter reflected sunlight. Other companies have launched reflective satellites that severely affect imaging, which astronomers have said “truly is an existential problem for astronomy”.
Who is ahead, Starlink or Kuiper?
Starlink. By quite some way.
Kuiper has been granted permission from the US Federal Communications Commission to operate 3236 satellites, and the company has said it would only start renting internet connections to users once 578 satellites were launched.
So if today’s launch is successful, the company will still have 551 more satellites to send into space before it can begin to generate revenue.
The company says it has secured more than 80 launches with a range of companies to deploy additional satellites. Ironically, some launches will be handled by SpaceX.
Meanwhile, SpaceX started launching satellites in 2019, and says it has more than 6750 satellites in orbit, serving millions of customers. The company is also developing a military satellite network called Starshield, which reportedly has contracts with the US government.
Can Kuiper catch up?
It certainly has lots of ground to make up. Starlink’s lead is large and it has the obvious benefit of being owned by a rocket launch company.
Although it isn’t owned by Amazon, Bezos does have space company Blue Origin at his disposal, which is playing a similar game of catch-up with SpaceX in the world of reusable rockets. That could help to close the gap.
In other areas, Amazon may have the advantage. It already has hundreds of millions of users who regularly shop and stream on the site, and who may be tempted to add satellite internet via various deals or enticements.
In addition, hundreds of millions of people worldwide lack a reliable internet connection, so there is a market. Only time will tell if it is large enough to sustain two major competing satellite operators, not to mention smaller players like the partly UK-owned OneWeb.
Some companies are also working on unpiloted, solar-powered aircraft that can loiter in the high atmosphere for months at a time, which could potentially undercut satellites on cost.
One thing is clear, however: it will certainly be a boon for consumers to have a competitor in the market.
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