Amazon launches two satellites to compete with Elon Musk's Starlink
Amazon launched two satellites on Friday. The satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 2:06 pm local time (6:06 pm GMT).
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) industrial group, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, carried out the launch of two satellites, according to a report published by AFP. Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos said that Project Kuiper will provide fast, and affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world with a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiper's vice president of technology said, “We've done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there's no substitute for on-orbit testing." The company has said that it would invest $10 billion in the project and has booked 77 heavy-lift launches with commercial providers Arianespace, ULA, and Bezos-owned Blue Origin. As per Amazon reports, the first operational satellites of the Kuiper project are due to be launched in early 2024, and hopes for initial tests with customers at the end of next year.
The test on Friday attempted to establish contact between the probes and Earth, deploy their solar panels, and confirm that all instruments were operating correctly and at the desired temperatures, AFP reported. These services are designed to provide internet access to even the most remote and underserved areas around the world, including war zones or disaster-struck areas.
This came after Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the first batch of its more than 3,700 operational Starlink satellites in 2019 and is by far the biggest player. Musk's ownership of Starlink caused uproar in Ukraine last month when it was
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