Bezos Vs Musk: Project Kuiper Begins Deployment To Rival Starlink

The satellites are the first of 3 236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a US10-billion effort unveiled in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

Sitting atop an Atlas V rocket from the Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance, the batch of 27 satellites was lofted into space at 7pm EDT 1am SAST on Tuesday from the rocket companys launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Bad weather scrubbed an initial launch attempt on 9 April.

Kuiper is arguably Amazons biggest bet under way, pitting it against Starlink as well as global telecommunications providers like AT T and T-Mobile. The company has positioned the service as a boon to rural areas where connectivity is sparse or nonexistent.

The mission to deploy the first operational satellites has been delayed more than a year Amazon once hoped it could launch the inaugural batch in early 2024. The company faces a deadline set by the US Federal Communications Commission to deploy half its constellation, 1 618 satellites, by mid-2026, but its slower start means Amazon is likely to seek an extension, analysts say.

Elon Musks SpaceX, with a unique edge as both a satellite operator and launch company with its reusable Falcon 9, has put more than 8 000 Starlink satellites in orbit since 2019, marking its 250th dedicated Starlink launch on Monday. Its deployment pace has hastened to at least one Starlink mission per week, each rocket with roughly two dozen satellites on board to expand the networks bandwidth and replace outdated satellites.