Amazon just announced that the first satellites in its Kuiper constellation will be launched and delivered to low Earth orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
For the past few years, SpaceX has been developing its Starlink project, aimed at providing broadband Internet connectivity from space. With more than a thousand satellites currently active, the SpaceX constellation is already well supplied, despite the reluctance of some. Access is already available in North America and the United Kingdom.
Recently, the company also approached the Federal Communications Commission to seek permission to operate Starlink terminals on "moving earth stations". Understand:SpaceX would now like to broadcast the Internet in trucks, boats and planes.
Elon Musk's company isn't the only company targeting the internet from space, however. Amazon is also in on the action with its Project Kuiper . While the Starlink constellation aims to deploy at least 12,000 satellites in orbit, that of Amazon, which will invest more than ten billion dollars in the project, plans to release 3236 after authorization from the Federal Communications Commission.
The first satellites of the Kuiper project will soon be launched into space. As a service provider, Amazon turned to United Launch Alliance and its Atlas V launcher . This rocket is an aerospace heavyweight with several very important launches to its credit, including the New Horizons, Juno, Insight and Mars 2020 missions (Perseverance and Ingenuity) to name but a few.
“We are committed to making affordable broadband a reality for customers and communities around the world “, said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “ULA is a fantastic partner who has successfully launched dozens of engagements for commercial and government clients. We are grateful for their support of Kuiper “.
This first contract with ULA includes nine launches to begin the Kuiper constellation. All will be operated from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida. On the other hand, it is still unknown how many satellites each Atlas V rocket will be able to deliver.
Naturally, SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher would have cost less. Nevertheless, it would have been absurd for Amazon to support a competitor in the race to create a satellite Internet constellation. For its part, another company of Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, builds the BE-4 rocket engines that will power United Launch Alliance's next-generation rocket, called Vulcan.
On the other hand, this agreement could only be temporary. Indeed, Blue Origin is also developing its own large rocket, New Glenn, which will also use BE-4 engines to power its first stage. The Vulcan and New Glenn rockets will then compete directly for national security launches as well as commercial satellites.
The Atlas V vehicle relies on Russian-made engines. While we know the launch vehicle will be phased out over the next few years, we know that ULA has enough RD-180 engines to support more than a dozen commercial flights.
