{"id":17396,"date":"2022-04-05T17:59:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amazon-reserves-up-to-83-rocket-launches-for-project-kuiper-broadband-satellite-constellation\/"},"modified":"2022-04-05T17:59:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T09:59:10","slug":"amazon-reserves-up-to-83-rocket-launches-for-project-kuiper-broadband-satellite-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amazon-reserves-up-to-83-rocket-launches-for-project-kuiper-broadband-satellite-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon reserves up to 83 rocket launches for Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"345\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x-630x345.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-688595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x-630x345.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x-1260x690.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x-768x420.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x-1536x841.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/220405-kuiper1x.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur rockets, Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 6 rockets. (Amazon Illustration) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon has secured as many as 83 launches on three types of heavy-lift rockets to put more than 1,500 satellites into low Earth orbit for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation over the course of five years.<\/p>\n<p>If Amazon follows through on all the reservations announced today, the campaign would carry a multibillion-dollar price tag and arguably represent the space industry\u2019s largest launch procurement for a single commercial project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecuring launch capacity from multiple providers has been a key part of our strategy from day one,\u201d Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper at Amazon, said today in a news release. \u201cThis approach reduces risk associated with launch vehicle stand-downs and supports competitive long-term pricing for Amazon, producing cost savings that we can pass on to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amazon\u2019s Project Kuiper aims to offer satellite broadband internet service to tens of millions of people around the world who are currently underserved. The $10 billion project has been in the works for three years, and won the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s go-ahead in 2020. But it\u2019s considered far behind SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite broadband service, which is already available on a limited basis.<\/p>\n<p>Like Starlink, Project Kuiper is headquartered in Redmond, Wash. More than 1,000 Amazon employees are currently working on Kuiper, and the project\u2019s careers website lists more than 300 open positions.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Limp, senior vice president for Amazon Devices &amp; Services, said Project Kuiper is making good progress. \u201cWe still have lots of work ahead, but the team has continued to hit milestone after milestone across every aspect of our satellite system,\u201d he said. \u201cThese launch agreements reflect our incredible commitment and belief in Project Kuiper, and we\u2019re proud to be working with such an impressive lineup of partners to deliver on our mission.\u201d<\/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=\"Project Kuiper: Fast, Affordable Broadband for Unserved &amp; Underserved Communities | Amazon News\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IIos1LjCgCc?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>Twelve launch reservations have been made with Blue Origin, the Kent, Wash.-based space venture owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Those launches would use Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket, which is closing in on a first launch in 2023 or later. Amazon also has an option to buy up to 15 additional New Glenn launches.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon has reserved another 38 launches on United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur rocket, which is due to have its first liftoff as early as this year. Those missions would be in addition to nine previously reserved launches on ULA\u2019s existing Atlas V rockets.<\/p>\n<p>New Glenn and Vulcan are designed to lift off from separate launch complexes at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Arianespace has agreed to set aside 18 launches of its heavy-lift Ariane 6 rocket, which is due to make its debut as early as this year at the European consortium\u2019s spaceport in French Guiana. Arianespace CEO St\u00e9phane Isra\u00ebl said the launch contract with Amazon is \u201cthe largest we\u2019ve ever signed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The FCC license requires Amazon to launch at least half of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation by 2026, and today Amazon said its procurement plan should meet that schedule. That translates to more than 1,618 satellites, potentially launched by the nine Atlas V rockets and the rockets mentioned today.<\/p>\n<p>To optimize the deployment of all those satellites, Amazon has turned to Beyond Gravity, a Swiss-based space technology company formerly known as RUAG Space. Beyond Gravity is in charge of designing and manufacturing the scalable satellite dispenser systems that will fly aboard the rockets.<\/p>\n<p>RUAG International CEO Andr\u00e9 Wall said the Project Kuiper deal represents the largest order in Beyond Gravity\u2019s history. To serve the partnership, Beyond Gravity is building a new dispenser production facility in Sweden.<\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s too late for Project Kuiper to beat Starlink to market, Amazon could take advantage of potential synergies with its other lines of business. <\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s news release, Amazon said it would leverage its \u201cglobal logistics and operations footprint, as well as Amazon Web Services\u2019 networking and infrastructure, to serve a diverse, global customer base.\u201d The company said it would also capitalize on its experience in building low-cost devices such as Echo and Kindle to deliver affordable broadband service via its lightweight customer terminals.<\/p>\n<p>Slips in hardware development schedules could impede Project Kuiper\u2019s progress: Amazon hasn\u2019t said much so far about the timeline for building satellites. Moreover, not one of the rockets cited in today\u2019s announcement \u2014 which was timed to coincide with this week\u2019s Space Symposium in Colorado \u2014 has had its first flight yet.<\/p>\n<p>At least one such slip may have happened already: Last November, Amazon announced that the first Project Kuiper prototype satellites would be launched into orbit late this year on yet another type of rocket, ABL Space Systems\u2019 RS1. But in January, an anomaly that occurred during a rocket engine test in California set back ABL\u2019s development schedule by several months.<\/p>\n<p>As Badyal suggested in his comments, the large number of launch reservations may be a form of insurance to anticipate those sorts of setbacks \u2014 and cover Amazon\u2019s multibillion-dollar bet.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update for 4:15 p.m. PT April 6:<\/strong> In an industry brief for premium subscribers, Quilty Analytics says Project Kuiper \u201chas become very real\u201d because of the three-pronged launch deal. Quilty says the campaign, which it estimates will cost Amazon $5 billion, will provide a shot in the arm to heavy-lift launch companies that don\u2019t happen to be named SpaceX.<\/p>\n<p>During a Space Symposium panel, the top executives for the three launch companies revealed how many Kuiper satellites they could launch on each rocket: 35 to 40 for Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 6, 61 for Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn, and 45 for United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur.<\/p>\n<p>Based on those figures, Quilty estimates that each Project Kuiper satellite weighs 600-700 kilograms (1,300-1,540 pounds), which would make them significantly more massive than the satellites fielded by SpaceX (260-300 kilograms) and OneWeb (150 kilograms).<\/p>\n<p>Project Kuiper reportedly plans to build two to four satellites per day. That production capacity, plus the reserved launch capacity, would seem to be enough to fill out Amazon\u2019s 3,236-satellite constellation in five years. That\u2019s assuming, of course, that everything goes right. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur rockets, Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace\u2019s Ariane 6 rockets. (Amazon Illustration) Amazon has secured as many as 83 launches on three types of heavy-lift rockets to put more than 1,500 satellites into low Earth orbit for its [&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":[275,260,498,509,252,510,962,20,4336,442],"class_list":["post-17396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-amazon","tag-ariane-6","tag-arianespace","tag-blue-origin","tag-broadband","tag-new-glenn","tag-project-kuiper","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17396"}],"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=17396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}