Arianespace’s Ariane 6, ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, and (Bezos-owned) Blue Origin’s New Glenn will provide as many as 83 launches for the Starlink rival.
Project Kuiper, Amazon’s intended rival to SpaceX’s Starlink for low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband, announced a trio of launch contracts Tuesday that its press release calls “the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history.” These deals involve three large rockets that have yet to fly: Arianespace’s Ariane 6, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns and bankrolls the last firm, which is also providing the first-stage engines in ULA’s Vulcan –a replacement for its almost-retired Atlas V, which launches on Russian-built engines and which Kuiper previously booked for its first nine launches. Amazon’s announcement doesn’t cite a value or schedule but says the covered launches—38 on Vulcan Centaur,18 on Ariane 6, and 12 on New Glenn, plus a possible 15 extra—will loft the majority of Kuiper’s 3,236-satellite constellation. The Federal Communications Commission’s July 30, 2020, authorization requires Kuiper to have 50% of the constellation operational by July 30, 2026, with the rest due three years later.
