E-commerce giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) will launch two Project Kuiper prototype satellites — KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 — on Oct. 6 in a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 501 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to a ULA announcement.
A new blog post published by Amazon on Oct. 3 said the mission is mainly for gauging the connectivity between customer terminals, a ground-based communications network and the satellites in preparation for Amazon's rollout of global internet services. On the same date, Amazon released photos of the small terminals that customers will use at home to get internet access through Kuiper.
In a prepared statement, Project Kuiper’s Vice President of Technology Rajeev Badyal said, “We’ve done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing. This is Amazon’s first time putting satellites into space, and we’re going to learn an incredible amount regardless of how the mission unfolds.”
The prototypes are two of more than 3,200 telecommunications satellites that will be made in Kirkland, Washington, and shipped to Amazon’s satellite processing facility at Kennedy Space Center over the next six years, as Orlando Inno reported in July.
Amazon Kuiper satellite launch preparation
When testing is complete, the satellites won’t be brought back to Earth. The company plans to de-orbit both satellites before they ultimately burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, said the Amazon post.
Amazon isn't going it alone on this project. The company has been awarded NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Defense Innovation Unit contracts that contribute to a massive hybrid space network project. Amazon also has formed partnerships with Verizon and Vodafone.
Project Kuiper has been particularly notable in Central Florida as Amazon has begun construction on a more-than-100,000-square-foot satellite processing facility at Kennedy Space Center, an announcement made by Space Florida on July 21. The project involves a $120 million investment in the region from Amazon, the creation of 300 temporary construction jobs and up to 50 new permanent jobs paying an average annual wage of $80,000 plus benefits, said a Space Florida news release.
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