{"id":11739,"date":"2021-04-19T23:10:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T15:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazon-buys-nine-atlas-5-launches-for-kuiper-broadband-constellation\/"},"modified":"2021-04-19T23:10:31","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T15:10:31","slug":"amazon-buys-nine-atlas-5-launches-for-kuiper-broadband-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazon-buys-nine-atlas-5-launches-for-kuiper-broadband-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon buys nine Atlas 5 launches for Kuiper broadband constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nine Atlas 5 rockets will launch satellites for Amazon\u2019s Kuiper internet network. Credit: United Launch Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amazon has selected United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket for nine missions from Cape Canaveral to deploy satellites for the Kuiper internet constellation, a fleet designed to eventually number more than 3,200 spacecraft, the companies announced Monday.<\/p>\n

The nine missions will lift off from ULA\u2019s facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but officials did not reveal when they will launch. Amazon and ULA \u2014 a 50-50 joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin \u2014 also did not disclose how many satellites will fly on each Atlas 5 mission, or which Atlas 5 rocket configuration will launch the Kuiper spacecraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re determined to make affordable broadband a reality for customers and communities around the world,\u201d said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. \u201cULA is a fantastic partner that\u2019s successfully launched dozens of missions for commercial and government customers, and we\u2019re grateful for their support of Kuiper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlas 5 rockets have flown 86 times since 2002, all successfully, with payloads for the U.S. military, the U.S. government\u2019s intelligence agencies, NASA, and commercial customers.<\/p>\n

Amazon and ULA did not disclose financial terms of the launch services agreement. On its website, ULA says the price for an Atlas 5 rocket launch starts at $109 million, suggesting the total value of the contract may exceed $1 billion.<\/p>\n

The Kuiper network will beam low-latency Ka-band broadband services to customers between 56 degrees north and 56 degrees south latitude, according to Amazon. Half of the Kuiper network\u2019s 3,236 satellites must be launched by mid-2026 for Amazon to maintain network authorization from the Federal Communications Commission.<\/p>\n

The nine Atlas 5 missions are just a start. Amazon says it plans to use multiple types of launch vehicles from multiple companies to deploy the entire fleet of Kuiper satellites.<\/p>\n

In its FCC filings, Amazon outlined a strategy to launch the Kuiper satellites in five phases, placing the spacecraft into orbital \u201cshells\u201d at altitudes between 366 miles (590 kilometers) and 391 miles (630 kilometers). The Kuiper satellites will fly in orbital planes, or pathways, inclined at 33 degrees, 42 degrees, and 51.9 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the Kuiper deployment sequence will launch 578 satellites into 391-mile-high orbits with an inclination of 51.9 degrees, according to Amazon\u2019s FCC filings.<\/p>\n

The FCC approved Amazon\u2019s Kuiper network last July. Amazon says it is investing $10 billion into the project, which is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, home to a Kuiper research, development, and manufacturing facility. More than 500 employees are currently working on the Kuiper project, according to Amazon.<\/p>\n

Amazon has not revealed the size and mass of the Kuiper satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve designed our satellites and dispenser system to accommodate multiple launch vehicles \u2014 this gives us the flexibility to use many different rockets and providers to launch our satellite system,\u201d said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper. \u201cAtlas 5 is a capable, reliable rocket, and we\u2019re proud to be working with ULA to support these important first launches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProject Kuiper is an ambitious project with the potential to connect tens of millions of people around the planet,\u201d said Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA. \u201cThe scope and scale of the initiative will also provide an enormous boost to U.S. leadership in space, helping create jobs and providing steady, reliable demand for the launch services industry. We\u2019re honored to have Amazon turn to ULA and Atlas 5 to support its deployment plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

ULA is developing a next-generation rocket named the Vulcan Centaur to replace the company\u2019s current Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rocket families. The first Vulcan test launch is scheduled at the end of this year.<\/p>\n

ULA is ending production of Delta 4 rockets, and only four Delta 4 flights remain on ULA\u2019s schedule through late 2023, including a Delta 4-Heavy launch scheduled April 26 from California.<\/p>\n

The Atlas 5 will also be phased out, but ULA has said it plans to keep launching Atlas rockets in tandem with the early Vulcan launches for several years.<\/p>\n

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX won contracts from the U.S. military last year to launch a series of national security satellites through 2027. ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket and SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launchers will be the military\u2019s primary heavy-lift launch providers during that time.<\/p>\n

With the nine Kuiper missions now reserved with ULA, there are nearly 30 Atlas 5 missions in the company\u2019s backlog.<\/p>\n

Several companies are in the pool of commercial launch providers vying for Kuiper launches. Blue Origin, a space company also owned by Bezos, has said it will have to compete for Kuiper launch contracts, alongside ULA, Arianespace, and perhaps even SpaceX, which is deploying its own internet network in competition with Amazon\u2019s Kuiper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to explore all options to launch the remainder of our satellite constellation, and we look forward to working with companies across the launch services industry to advance U.S. leadership in space and create jobs across the country,\u201d Amazon said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Kuiper network will compete with SpaceX\u2019s Starlink fleet, the OneWeb broadband system, Telesat\u2019s planned Lightspeed network, and other future low Earth orbit constellations.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has more than 1,300 active Starlink satellites in orbit, and their network is already providing intermittent services to users in advanced beta testing. The Starlink satellites launch on SpaceX\u2019s own partially-reusable Falcon 9 rockets.<\/p>\n

OneWeb is behind SpaceX, with 146 of its planned 648 internet satellites successfully launched on Russian Soyuz rockets. OneWeb aims to start limited commercial service by the end of this year.<\/p>\n

Telesat plans to start launching its nearly 300 Lightspeed satellites next year.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nine Atlas 5 rockets will launch satellites for Amazon\u2019s Kuiper internet network. Credit: United Launch Alliance Amazon has selected United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas 5 rocket for nine missions from Cape Canaveral to deploy satellites for the Kuiper internet constellation, a fleet designed to eventually number more than 3,200 spacecraft, the companies announced Monday. The nine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[275,724,252,291,1708,276,25,1611],"class_list":["post-11739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-atlas-5","tag-broadband","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-41","tag-kuiper","tag-launch","tag-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}