Amazon will begin launching its Undertaking Kuiper Starlink rival subsequent week

Following recent tests, Amazon is lastly able to launch its Undertaking Kuiper area web venture in a bid to rival Elon Musk's Starlink, the corporate announced. The primary batch of 27 satellites on the KA-01 (Kuiper Atlas 1) mission are set to launch into low earth orbit (LEO) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on April ninth subsequent week from Cape Canaveral if circumstances permit. Amazon hopes to start out providing the high-speed web service "later this yr," it mentioned.

Amazon's community will ultimately comprise 3,200 satellites launched from companions together with ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin and even SpaceX. Very like that firm's Starlink, Undertaking Kuiper's service will cowl all the planet when accomplished. It’ll work with a dish as small as seven inches that can ship speeds as much as 100Mbps, smaller than Starlink's Mini, or as much as 1Gbps with bigger dishes. The corporate mentioned the price of terminals will likely be beneath $400.

The satellites will cruise at 17,000 mph at 392 miles above earth, circling the planet in about 90 minutes. They'll use a dialectic mirror movie coating that's alleged to scatter gentle and make them much less seen to ground-based astronomers, Amazon mentioned. SpaceX's constellation at present makes use of over 7,000 satellites, so the Undertaking Kuiper and Starlink fleet will use over 10,000 LEO satellites as soon as Amazon's community is full.

Amazon

Amazon launched two check satellites in October 2023 and proclaimed its early checks a hit, with the pair sending and retrieving knowledge at speeds of as much as 100 gigabits per second. Later in December, it bolstered the community with a community of high-speed laser cross-links that promise additional velocity boosts. The corporate claims its mesh community can transfer knowledge about 30 % sooner than terrestrial fiber optic cables.

Undertaking Kuiper’s first launch would be the heaviest payload but for the Atlas V, which can fly in its strongest configuration. The rocket will embody 5 stable rocket boosters along with the primary booster, and a payload fairing 77 toes excessive and 16.4 toes vast.

Regardless of previous profitable checks, the mission isn't with out threat. "We’ve achieved in depth testing on the bottom to arrange for this primary mission, however there are some issues you may solely be taught in flight, and this would be the first time we’ve flown our last satellite tv for pc design and the primary time we’ve deployed so many satellites without delay," Undertaking Kuiper vp Rajeev Badyal wrote. "Regardless of how the mission unfolds, that is simply the beginning of our journey, and we’ve all of the items in place to be taught and adapt as we put together to launch many times over the approaching years."

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/area/amazon-will-start-launching-its-project-kuiper-starlink-rival-next-week-123011012.html?src=rss

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