Tag: Amazon
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Rakuten Mobile and AST SpaceMobile Plan Satellite-to-Mobile Service in Japan by 2026
Rakuten Mobile, in collaboration with U.S. satellite designer AST SpaceMobile, has unveiled its ambitious plan to introduce a commercial satellite-to-mobile service in Japan by 2026. This innovative broadband service will enable video and voice calls directly accessible by regular smartphones, eliminating the need for a terminal connection. The rollout timeline remains uncertain, but the coverage…
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A year for gearing up: Aerospace ventures are counting down to big missions in 2024
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket lifts off with two prototype Amazon satellites on Oct. 6. (ULA Photo) If 2022 was packed with headline-grabbing aerospace developments — including the first pictures from the James Webb Telescope and the first launch of NASA’s giant moon rocket — 2023 was what you might call a rebuilding year.…
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Amazon reveals a secret about its Project Kuiper satellites: They’re using laser links
This graphic shows how Project Kuiper would use optical signaling between satellites. (Amazon Illustration) Ending years of speculation, Amazon has acknowledged that its Project Kuiper satellites will use laser-based links to communicate with each other, and says the system has already been successfully tested in orbit. Such a system — known as optical inter-satellite links,…
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Team of rivals: Amazon makes a deal with SpaceX for three Kuiper satellite launches
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a set of Starlink satellites on Nov. 27. Amazon has struck a deal to use Falcon 9 rockets for some of its Project Kuiper satellites as well. (SpaceX Photo) Amazon’s Project Kuiper may be a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network, but business is business: Amazon says it has…
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Amazon buys three launches from SpaceX for rival internet constellation
A pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation are encapsulated in a pair of payload fairings for launch aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. Image: ULA Tech giant Amazon is adding a fifth rocket to launch its satellite internet constellation. In a surprise move on Friday afternoon, the company announced it purchased…
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Amazon’s Project Kuiper highlights new connections to AWS and partners in Japan
A Project Kuiper satellite terminal is set up with a wind farm in the background. (Amazon Photo) As Amazon gears up to build and launch thousands of satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation, it’s talking up the space-based broadband network’s potential to enable new options for managing data traffic with Amazon Web Services — including…
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Amazon says Project Kuiper satellites ace orbital tests — including video streaming
A flight director watches over Project Kuiper’s mission operations center in Redmond, Wash. (Amazon Photo) Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite network streamed its first video and facilitated its first online sale during a monthlong series of orbital tests that the company says achieved a “100% success rate.” The performance of the two prototype satellites, known as…
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Amazon says Project Kuiper satellites are maneuvering the way they were built to do
Amazon’s Hall-effect thruster fires up with a krypton glow during testing. (Amazon Photo) A month after the launch of its first prototype Project Kuiper satellites, Amazon reports that the spacecraft have demonstrated controlled maneuvering in orbit using their custom-built electric propulsion systems. “A recent series of test firings provided critical on-orbit data to further validate…
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Atlas V rocket launches prototype Amazon satellites to test Project Kuiper network
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites. (ULA via YouTube) Amazon’s first satellites were launched today on a mission aimed at testing out the hardware and software for the Seattle company’s worldwide Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation. Two prototype satellites — known as KuiperSat 1 and 2 — rode a United…
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Atlas 5 delivers first Amazon internet satellites to orbit on Friday
Satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation are hoisted up to integrate onto ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket. Image: ULA Update Oct. 6: The Atlas 5 rocket successfully lifted off on Friday afternoon at 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 UTC). Shortly before 3 p.m. EDT (1900 UTC), ULA stated that they had “precisely” delivered the payload to…