Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband-by-satellite syatem will launch its first batch of satellite on an United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket on April 9th, subject to the usual weather and technocal considerations.

The mission, named ‘KA-01’ for Kuiper Atlas 1, will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and deploy 27 satellites at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kms) above Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than (NET) 12 pm EDT.

Project Kuiper will deliver high-speed, low-latency Internet to virtually any location on the planet, and Amazon expects to begin delivering service to customers later this year. The first-generation satellite system will include more than 3,200 advanced low Earth orbit satellites, and Amazon has secured more than 80 launches to deploy that initial constellation, with each one adding dozens of satellites to the network.

“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network,” commented Rajeev Badyal, VP/Project Kuiper. “We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once. No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years.”

The satellites flying on KA-01 are a significant upgrade from the two prototype satellites that Amazon successfully tested during its Protoflight mission in October 2023. Amazon says it has improved the performance of every system and sub-system on board, including phased array antennas, processors, solar arrays, propulsion systems, and optical inter-satellite links. In addition, the satellites are coated in a dielectric mirror film unique to Kuiper that scatters reflected sunlight to help make them less visible to ground-based astronomers.

The satellites will travel at a speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,359 km per hour) on orbit and circle the planet approximately every 90 minutes.

Project Kuiper’s satellite payload will be the heaviest payload ULA’s Atlas V rocket has ever flown. To accommodate it, ULA will be flying Atlas V in its most powerful configuration. The rocket will include five solid rocket boosters in addition to its main booster, and a payload fairing (which contains the satellites) that is 77 feet (23.5 metres) high and 16.4 feet (5 metres) wide.

Over the next few years, Kuiper and ULA teams will conduct seven more Atlas V launches and 38 launches on ULA’s larger Vulcan Centaur rocket. An additional 30-plus launches are planned across our other launch providers: Arianespace, Blue Origin, and SpaceX.

Following KA-01, Amazon will continue to increase its production, processing, and deployment rates as it prepares to begin delivering service to customers. Amazon has already begun shipping and processing satellites for oits next mission: KA-02 will also use a ULA Atlas V rocket and launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: Amazon, Florida, Project Kuiper