The company has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to catch up to SpaceX’s Starlink system, which is already serving 100,000 customers with satellite-based broadband service.
For months now, Amazon has been quiet on the progress surrounding its satellite internet system, Project Kuiper. But on Monday, the company announced plans to launch the first prototype satellites during next year’s fourth quarter. The upcoming test will involve a pair of satellites, dubbed KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, that’ll orbit the Earth at a distance of 590 kilometers (366 miles), relaying data to ground stations on the surface. To send the satellites into space, Amazon is relying on the RS-1 Rocket from ABL Space Systems. „There is no substitute for on-orbit testing, and we expect to learn a lot given the complexity and risk of operating in such a challenging environment,“ says Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper, in the announcement.
