Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and magnate owner of companies like SpaceX, managed to implement satellite Internet with Starlink. This had the main advantage of offering us Internet practically anywhere in the world. It didn’t really have any real competitors, but now Amazon has finally started the launch of its Kuiper satellitesto offer Broadband Internet throughout the planet.
A few years ago, Amazon revealed its so-called Kuiper Project, which aimed to launch thousands of satellites into space to offer Internet. In total, a deployment of no less than 3,236 Internet satellites and which we have been talking about for months. It was in February of this year, when the FCC finally gave Amazon authorization to launch these satellites and be a worthy rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The first two satellites of Amazon’s Project Kuiper are already in space
After years of being unable to do anything against Musk’s satellite Internet, Amazon has taken its first big step. This time Jeff Bezos’ popular company has managed to launch the first two Kuiper satellites. These are test models, to check that everything is working correctly. The launch took place at Cape Canaveral Space Station and it is the starting signal towards an Internet that covers the entire Earth.
Once the 3,236 satellites are in constellation and everything is up and running, the only thing we will need is a satellite dish to capture the signal. In total there will be 3 models different from before, depending on what customers are looking for. The first of all will be light and very compact, although it will have an Internet speed of about 100Mbps, being the cheapest service. Then we have one that will be larger and suitable for houses, offering up toat 400 Mbps. Finally, we will have the largest and fastest, reaching up to 1Gbps.
Amazon plans to launch 3,236 satellites in 2029
The launch of the first two Kuiper satellites has also initiated Amazon’s next plan, which is to accelerate the launch of its entire satellite fleet into orbit. And it is expected that over 5 years, Amazon will have made 92 satellite launches into space. Most of these launches will be made by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), although there are two more aerospace companies involved.
The release of each and every one of the 3,236 Kuiper satellites happens sometime in 2029, so there’s still time for this. In addition, it must be taken into account that the two satellites launched are test prototypes and not final versions. These prototypes reached a altitude of 500 kilometers and they are functional. After 9 monthsAmazon plans to deploy operational Kuiper satellites in their final version, so we will see news from Kuiper again in the near future.
While Amazon begins its project, starlink has already managed to launch today more than 4,000 satellites. When Amazon launches its full fleet of more than 3,000 satellites, we will be able to see a more accurate comparison of which of the two is the best service, both in speed, connection stability and price.
