Amazon has fixed cars in the air for most of its satellite-satellite megaconstellation.
The company announced today (April 5) that it has signed deals for up to 83 releases, raising Amazon’s total to 3,236 ”.Kuiper Project“Internet satellites. The package of agreements” is the largest seller of start -up cars in history, “company representatives said in a statement.
Amazon has recorded 18 launches of Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket, 38 aircraft of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur and 12 missions (with an option for 25 more) of Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy lifter. (Blue Teacher and Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos, the second richest man in the world.)
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Amazon did not disclose the value of any of the deals.
“We’ve done a lot in the past, but the company has continued milestone after milestone in every aspect of our satellite system,” said Dave Limp, senior president for Amazon Devices and Services. the same word (opens on new page). “These launch agreements demonstrate our great commitment and trust in Project Kuiper, and we are proud to work with an exciting line of partners to fulfill our mission.”
Most importantly, those partners didn’t get involved SpaceX, which owns the Starlink broadband constellation that provides service to customers around the world. SpaceX has released more than 2,300 Starlink satellites to this day using its Falcon 9 engine and capable of lofting about 30,000 more.
Unlike the Falcon 9, the rockets chosen by Amazon to launch Project Kuiper satellites did not stop and fly. The Ariane 6 and Vulcan Centaur are expected to launch later this year, according to Arianespace and ULA delegates. Glenn’s first fresh start Not to be done before 2023.
It’s unclear why SpaceX didn’t get a Project Kuiper start -up agreement. But as Eric Berger of Ars Technica noted (opens on new page), May not have fueled a sense of competition on the part of SpaceX; Elon Musk’s team was signed launch OneWeb web satellites which was originally intended to fly over Russian -built Soyuz rockets. (OneWeb’s Soyuz crashed with Arianespace, which makes the rockets, after Russia invaded Ukraine.)
Amazon plans to introduce two Project Kuiper prototypes later this year on the RS1 ABL Space Systems rocket. Amazon also signed an initial Project Kuiper contract for nine releases on ULA’s Atlas V.
Mike Wall is the author of “Outside (opens on new page)“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; edited by Karl Tate), a book about exploring alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens on new page). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens on new page) or at Facebook (opens on new page).
