Amazon plans to launch 27 satellites in low orbit At the beginning of next week as part of Project Kuiper to provide a large satellite strip. The date is set for Monday April 28 between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. HE (4 p.m. and 6 p.m. PT), except the weather or other factors with an impact on the launch.
The bad weather forced Amazon to abandon its date of launch of the original rocket of April 9. “Time is observed and does not plan to take off in the remaining launch window in Cape Canaveral tonight,” said United Launch Alliance at the time. “The stubborn cumulus clouds and the persistent winds make the takeoff not possible in the available window.”
The launch mission, Ka-01 or Kuiper Atlas 1, will be on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and will take place at Space Force Cape Canaveral station. You can look at the launch of the rocket live on the project mission page or on YouTube.
It will be a big step forward for the project, which Amazon announced in 2019 with promises of an investment of $ 10 billion. Now, the company is about to enter the race to provide a satellite internet service, a space currently dominated by Starlink de Spacex, which has 7,000 satellites. Amazon’s plans provide that 3,200 satellites are deployed on 80 launches. The company intends to provide Internet service With this technology later this year.
More competition will improve satellite internet services
The race for literal space, which includes Starlink, Amazon and other companies such as ViaSat,, HughesnetEutelsat and China Spaces Wail, could mean greater availability of Internet services in distant and rural areas with limited wide -band options. Although Starlink is the space leader, some of these other companies continue to launch satellites and work to deploy high speed internet on more markets, such as Brazil. With more players on the market, this could mean faster and Cheaper internet In more areas, although this has really come out of consumers remains to be seen.
Mahdi eslamimehrExecutive vice-president of When Ary Peak Research and auxiliary professor in the IT department of the USC, said that Amazon is well placed to compete with Starlink. “Amazon has concluded large launch agreements with major suppliers such as ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin and even SpaceX itself, positioning Kuiper as a major challenger because of its vast infrastructure and significant resources.”
He said: “Although Starlink currently benefits from a clear market leadership, he faces growing competition from well -capitalized and strategically agile competitors, in particular China, suggesting that the market will become much more competitive in the near future.”
So far, Eslamimehr said, Amazon’s satellite efforts have been promising and successful, at least in the prototype stages. The company has also tested Amazon’s web services in space. “These developments collectively highlight Amazon’s robust entry into the internet market of satellites and reflect a positive early momentum in its overall spatial strategy.”
Beyond the way he behaves against Starlink and other companies, Amazon satellite launches are important in other respects. Eslamimehr said: “The Kuiper project is not only a question of competition; it is positioned as a critical step towards the closure of the global digital divide, promising to deliver high speed internet to the badly served communities in the world.”
Correction, April 4: An earlier version of this story has misized the name of the USC teacher and vice-president of research director when Ary Peak. His name is Mahdi Eslamehr.
