Amazon has been working on the Kuiper project, its initiative for Internet satellites, or the constellation with which Jeff Bezos intends to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Thanks to the Atlas V rocket provided by United Launch Alliance, Amazon’s partner on this project, the first two prototype satellites are now in low Earth orbit.
This mission, called Protoflight, will serve as a test of all systems and equipment. Amazon aims to evaluate how the future satellite network will function on the ground and in space. They want to determine whether it can provide high-speed broadband service to users in remote areas lacking terrestrial infrastructure and conventional internet signal coverage.
After conducting all the tests, Amazon plans to deorbit both satellites, ensuring their safe incineration in the atmosphere.
Amazon’s next step is to deploy more than 3,200 satellites into Earth orbit over the next six years. It recently received following FCC (Federal Communications Commission) approval. The launch of the first commercial satellites should begin in the first half of 2024.
Elon Musk’s Satellites Take up Too Much Space in Space
American billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has refuted claims that his satellite project, “Starlink Internet Services,” is overcrowding space.
According to the Financial Times, Musk stated that tens of billions of satellites could be deployed in near-Earth orbits.
His comments came in response to the head of the European Space Agency (ESA). They suggested that Musk was setting the rules for the commercial space industry.
At the start of the week, China expressed worries regarding the need to adjust the trajectory of its space station to prevent potential collisions with Starlink satellites. Nonetheless, Musk defended his company’s satellites in an interview, emphasizing their small size relative to the vast expanse of space.
