Following in the footsteps of Elon Musk, it seems that finally Bezos’s company will also join the peculiar race of the space Internet. And it is that Amazon has just announced that has planned more than 80 rocket launches Arianespace, Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to begin putting satellites into Earth orbit with which will serve a relatively low-cost internet connection.
Although it is a plan for the future, since specifically these launches will cover nothing less than a period of five years, with the aim of deploying up to 3,236 satellites to form the Project Kuiper “constellation” in what the company has already noted is the largest commercial acquisition of launch vehicles in history.
Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Amazon Devices & Services stated: “The Kuiper Project will provide fast and affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in underserved and underserved communities around the world. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the team has continued to hit milestone after milestone in all aspects of our satellite system. These launch agreements reflect our incredible commitment and belief in Project Kuiper, and we are proud to work with such an impressive list of partners to fulfill our mission.”.
And it is that Amazon seeks to provide a high-speed broadband network for all types of customers, including homes, schools, hospitals, businesses, governments, disaster relief operations, mobile operators, and anyone in areas with poor or no internet connectivity. While pricing hasn’t been revealed, the company says its receivers will be affordable, so while we’ll still see high prices compared to terrestrial networks, lower price would be expected that of the Starlink service, which currently amounts to the sum of the equipment (499 euros) together with the monthly connectivity fee (99 euros).
It is hoped that these launch acquisitions will help the space industry refine its processes so that it can reduce the cost of launching satellites, paving the way for the expansion of this type of service in the future; in addition to boosting job creation in the United States and Europe.
