{"id":17317,"date":"2023-02-09T18:25:28","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T10:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazons-kuiper-satellites-are-good-to-go-after-fccs-approval-of-orbital-debris-plan\/"},"modified":"2023-02-09T18:25:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T10:25:28","slug":"amazons-kuiper-satellites-are-good-to-go-after-fccs-approval-of-orbital-debris-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazons-kuiper-satellites-are-good-to-go-after-fccs-approval-of-orbital-debris-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s Kuiper satellites are good to go after FCC\u2019s approval of orbital debris plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2-630x376.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-752778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2-630x376.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2-1260x753.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2-768x459.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2-1536x918.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/230209-vulcan-kuiper2.jpg 1808w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"wp-element-caption\"> Artwork shows ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket lifting off with Amazon\u2019s Kuiper satellites. (Amazon Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon\u2019s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris.<\/p>\n<p>This week\u2019s order follows up on the conditional approval that the FCC issued in 2020. At the time, the FCC said the plans for Kuiper could proceed, but Amazon had to update its orbital debris mitigation plan to address concerns about collision risks, coordination with other satellite systems, and procedures for satellite disposal.<\/p>\n<p>After a back-and-forth with the Kuiper team and its rivals at SpaceX and Viasat, as well as interested parties at NASA and other federal agencies, the FCC it was satisfied with Amazon\u2019s modifications.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur action will allow Kuiper to begin deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world,\u201d the agency said in the order it adopted on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Like SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network, Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper network is designed to provide broadband internet access via satellites in low Earth orbit to hundreds of millions of people who are currently underserved. <\/p>\n<p>Kuiper is expected to extend the reach of Amazon Web Services and the company\u2019s other online offerings. Last November, for example, AWS and Kuiper said it would take part in a project to upgrade the Pentagon\u2019s military communication systems. <\/p>\n<p>Project Kuiper\u2019s satellites are being developed at a facility in Redmond, Wash., and Amazon is getting a 172,000-square-foot production facility ready in neighboring Kirkland to build thousands of satellites. The first prototypes  are due to be sent into low Earth orbit sometime in the next few months as payloads on United Launch Alliance\u2019s first Vulcan-Centaur rocket. The rocket\u2019s first stage will be powered by engines from Blue Origin, the Kent, Wash.-based space venture created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon says it plans to spend at least $10 billion on Project Kuiper, including billions of dollars for launches on ULA, Blue Origin and Ariane rockets.<\/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=\"Inside Amazon's satellite factory\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2RjP5JbPWi0?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>Julie Zoller, the head of global regulatory affairs for Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper, welcomed this week\u2019s FCC action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpace safety is a core tenet for the Kuiper team, and we\u2019re committed to operating safely and responsibly in space,\u201d Zoller said on LinkedIn. \u201cOur orbital debris mitigation plans demonstrate the Kuiper System is designed to meet or exceed all requirements set forth by the FCC. We are pleased that the commission has granted our application and we appreciate the coordination to ensure the industry is prioritizing safety.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In its modified plan, Amazon said that its satellites would be equipped with propulsive systems capable of adjusting orbits to avoid collisions, and that the trajectories of the satellites and other orbiting objects would be tracked to head off close calls before they happen.<\/p>\n<p>The plan says the satellites will have ample propellant on board to make a safe, controlled re-entry for disposal when necessary. If propellant runs low on a given satellite, it could be taken out of service early for safety\u2019s sake. <\/p>\n<p>In response to questions about the maturity of its satellite design, Amazon said that design is now complete. Amazon\u2019s prototype satellites \u2014 KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 \u2014 are meant to test the design as well as Kuiper\u2019s ground control and communication system.<\/p>\n<p>Under the terms of the FCC\u2019s conditional order in 2000, Amazon would have to deploy at least half of the authorized 3,236 satellites by 2026. And under the terms of this week\u2019s order, the company would have to provide semi-annual reports about the number of satellites launched and disposal reliability. Amazon would also be required to file a report if the disposal failure rate reaches two per year.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX had wanted the FCC to require projections from Project Kuiper about future failure rates, as is the case for SpaceX\u2019s second-generation Starlink satellites. But the FCC said such a requirement would be premature.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Kuiper has not started deploying or operating its constellation, we find it is not necessary to impose such a condition at this time,\u201d the FCC said.   <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artwork shows ULA\u2019s Vulcan rocket lifting off with Amazon\u2019s Kuiper satellites. (Amazon Illustration) The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon\u2019s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris. This week\u2019s order follows up on the conditional approval that the FCC [&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":[275,252,277,1720,962,20,4336,442],"class_list":["post-17317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-broadband","tag-fcc","tag-federal-communications-commission","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17317"}],"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=17317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}