It was years in the making, and two prototype satellites for Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) Project Kuiper telecommunications constellation finally had liftoff on Oct. 6 at 2:06 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Later that day, Amazon announced it deployed them at an altitude of 311 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth, and shortly thereafter, another milestone was reached.
The company’s mission operations center in Redmond, Washington, confirmed first contact with KuiperSat-2 at 2:53 p.m. First contact with KuiperSat-1 was made at 2:54 p.m. Amazon explained on its website that contact meant a satellite and one of its telemetry, tracking and control antenna established a telemetry link for the first time.
“The launch today started a new phase of our Protoflight mission, and there’s a long way to go, but it’s an exciting milestone all the same,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper, in an Oct. 6 prepared statement.
The successful launch followed the
Amazon has a deal with Centennial, Colorado-based United Launch Alliance to take about 1,710 Project Kuiper satellites to space using its Vulcan launch vehicles, but this time, the satellites were carried by an Atlas V 501.
The mission originally was set for earlier in 2023, but the launch vehicle — a heavy-lift Vulcan — had problems during testing. A crack in the upper stage tank caused an explosion, so Amazon shifted gears.
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