The billionaire battle in space between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk has entered a new arena, the satellite internet.
Started as an online bookstore 30 years ago, Amazon is Merchandising Behemoth, the owner of the James Bond franchise, and is a seller of electronic gadgets like the echo smart speaker and one of the most powerful providers of cloud computing.
So it’s not surprising that Amazon is launching the first few of the thousands of satellites known as Project Kuiper, offering another option to keep them connected in the modern world. The marketplace that brings high-speed internet from orbit to the ground is now dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX Rocket Company, which operates similar services. Starlink has thousands of satellites in orbit and has more launches almost every week, and Starlink already serves millions of customers around the world.
When will it be released and how can I see it?
The first 27 projects Kuiper Satellites are scheduled to lift from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7pm Eastern time on Wednesday.
They fly on Atlas V, a rocket created by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ULA plans to do it Provides live coverage From 6:35pm
The forecast only predicts 20% of the chances that winds and showers from coastal storms are likely to cause potential problems. However, there is a two-hour window where the load of propellant on the rocket begins and the launch may occur.
The spacecraft deploys the Kuiper satellite in a circular orbit 280 miles above the surface. The satellite’s propulsion system gradually raises its orbit to an altitude of 393 miles.
What is Project Kuiper?
Project Kuiper is the constellations of Internet satellites aimed at providing high-speed data connections to almost every point on Earth. To make this a success, you’ll need thousands of satellites. Amazon’s goal is to operate more than 3,200 over the next few years.
The company competes with SpaceX’s StarLink, which was originally sold primarily to residential customers.
Kuiper aims to make its market, especially remote locations, but will also be integrated with Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing product popular with large companies and governments around the world. This could make it more attractive for businesses with satellite images and weather forecasts that need to perform data calculations, as well as moving large amounts of data throughout the Internet.
Ground stations connect Kuiper satellites to the web service infrastructure in a way that allows businesses to communicate with their own remote devices. For example, Amazon suggests that energy companies can use Kuiper to monitor and control remote wind farms and offshore drilling platforms.
In October 2023, two prototype Kuiper satellites were launched and the technology was tested. Amazon said the test was successful. These prototypes were not intended to be useful in operational constellations, and after seven months they returned to a burnt-out atmosphere. company I said Since then, we have updated the design of “subsystems on all systems and subsystems.”
“There’s a huge difference between launching two satellites and launching 3,000 satellites,” said Rajeev Badyal, Amazon executive who works for Kuiper, in a promotional video before its launch.
When does Amazon offer internet services from the space?
Amazon told the Federal Communications Commission in 2020 that the service would start after deploying the first 578 satellites. The company says it expects customers to connect to the internet later this year.
A fully functional constellations require thousands of satellites, but the company is able to serve in certain regions with far fewer orbits before expanding into later, more global coverage.
The approval of the FCC constellations required that at least half of the satellites be deployed by July 30, 2026. Industry analysts say if they show significant progress by then, the company can get an extension.
Putting a satellite into orbit also depends on the launch of the rocket that occurs on a schedule. This can be a problem if sufficient rockets are not available. Amazon also needs to build hundreds of ground stations to relay signals to users.
Source: www.nytimes.com
