Compete mainly Along with SpaceX and OneWeb, Amazon will rely on small rockets to send the first two prototypes of its constellation of Kuiper satellites into space as early as next year.
For a few years, SpaceX has been developing its Starlink project, aimed at providing broadband Internet connectivity from space, with already more than 1700 active satellites. Elon Musk's company isn't the only company targeting the internet from space, however. Amazon is also in on the action with its Kuiper project. While the Starlink constellation aims to deploy at least 12,000 satellites into orbit, Amazon plans to release 3,236 over the next decade to provide low-latency, high-speed internet coverage.
Amazon plans to launch its first two prototypes in Q4 2022 . Called KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, these two satellites will launch on a new experimental rocket called RS1, currently being developed by California-based startup ABL Space Systems. Both will position themselves at 590 kilometers above the Earth. They will be desorbed to burn in the atmosphere once all tests are complete.
So far, Kuiper has only conducted field tests with its user terminals, claiming to achieve peak throughput speeds of up to 400 Mbps . Starlink's beta program currently offers download speeds of up to 100 Mbps and 200 Mbps.
The company further stated that it "is working with astronomers and other industry players to reduce the visibility of Kuiper System satellites “.
Astronomers have indeed already raised concerns about the impact of these constellations on observations of the night sky in the future. To help reduce the brightness of its satellites, Kuiper will offer a sun visor on one of the two prototypes to reduce its ability to reflect sunlight.
“We will collect data to compare the reflectivity between the two spacecraft and share any learnings with the astronomical community after the mission “, can we read in a blog post. SpaceX has also launched more than 1,000 of its satellites with this type of sunshade.
Amazon's choice to fly its first two prototypes on ABL's RS1 rocket is also unexpected. Last April, the company had indeed declared that the first satellites of the project would be launched on Atlas V rockets, from United Launch Alliance (ULA). These launchers are aerospace heavyweights with several very important launches to their credit, including the New Horizons, Juno, Insight missions and even Mars 2020 and its Perseverance rover.
ABL hasn't launched any of its rockets yet. A first test launch with the RS1 is expected before the end of the year. Eventually, this rocket will have a lifting capacity of approximately 1.5 tons in low Earth orbit at a cost of approximately twelve million dollars per flight. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that this rocket was more suitable for the launch of these first two satellites. On the other hand, the Kuiper project does plan to rely on Atlas V rockets to deploy the complete constellation.
