{"id":17105,"date":"2025-07-16T22:57:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rivals-team-up-spacex-sends-24-satellites-into-orbit-for-amazons-project-kuiper\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T22:57:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T14:57:00","slug":"rivals-team-up-spacex-sends-24-satellites-into-orbit-for-amazons-project-kuiper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rivals-team-up-spacex-sends-24-satellites-into-orbit-for-amazons-project-kuiper\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivals team up: SpaceX sends 24 satellites into orbit for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-881656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3-1260x840.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250716-kuiper3.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\">A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper satellites into space. (SpaceX \/ Amazon via LinkedIn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a case of strange space bedfellows, SpaceX launched 24 satellites for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper constellation \u2014 which is competing with SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network to provide internet access from low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent the satellites into space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:30 a.m. ET Wednesday (11:30 p.m. PT Tuesday).<\/p>\n<p>This was the third launch of operational satellites for Project Kuiper, coming after two batches of 27 satellites each were delivered to orbit in April and June. Those earlier missions made use of United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rockets, but in order to meet its ambitious satellite deployment schedule, Amazon is turning to SpaceX for three Falcon 9 launches. <\/p>\n<p>SpaceX enjoys a significant edge over Amazon when it comes to providing satellite broadband access: Starlink has about 8,000 satellites in orbit and more than 6 million subscribers, while Project Kuiper is just getting off the ground. Project Kuiper\u2019s satellites are built at an Amazon facility in Kirkland, Wash., not far from the SpaceX complex in Redmond where Starlink satellites are manufactured. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Falcon 9 launches KF-01 and Falcon 9 first stage landing\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BJZ5ShqAmDY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Earlier in the evening, a different Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and sent another 26 Starlink satellites into orbit. Both of the Falcon 9 first-stage boosters successfully landed on their respective drone ships in the Pacific and the Atlantic, minutes after launch.<\/p>\n<p>About an hour after the Florida liftoff, SpaceX reported that all 24 of the Project Kuiper satellites for the KF-01 mission were successfully deployed \u2014 drawing a note of thanks from Panos Panay, Amazon\u2019s senior vice president of devices and services. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongrats to the amazing Amazon Project Kuiper team on another successful launch, and a big thanks to SpaceX for the ride to space,\u201d Panay said in a LinkedIn post. \u201cPumped to have another batch of Kuiper satellites heading into orbit!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Project Kuiper\u2019s mission operations center in Redmond took charge of the satellites to check on their health, raise their orbits and prepare for full commissioning.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon says it expects to begin delivering service to customers in late 2025. The company\u2019s license from the Federal Communications Commission calls for more than 1,600 satellites to be sent into orbit by mid-2026, with the full 3,232-satellite constellation due for deployment by 2029. Unless Amazon and its launch providers pick up the pace dramatically, the company might have to seek an extension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper satellites into space. (SpaceX \/ Amazon via LinkedIn) In a case of strange space bedfellows, SpaceX launched 24 satellites for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper constellation \u2014 which is competing with SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network to provide internet access from low Earth orbit. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent [&hellip;]<\/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":[275,479,4434,962,4336,316],"class_list":["post-17105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-falcon-9","tag-falcon-launch","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17105"}],"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=17105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}