Analysts at Euroconsult forecast that the next decade will see some 28,700 satellites launched into space. The activity will be worth around $588 billion (€536.4bn). Activity from, Starlink, Project Kuiper, Telesat’s Lightspeed, Eutelsat/OneWeb and Chinese craft will lead the exponential growth. The analysts admit that their forecast might be an underestimate; they have included in […]

India’s government is proposing that satellite spectrum over the country will be assigned without would-be operators having to bid for the bandwidth. This rule, if enabled, will be a major advantage for the likes of Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Eutelsat/OneWeb and Elon Musk’s SpaceX/Starlink. The proposed Bill was tabled for approval in India’s parliament on December […]

Amazon’s Project Kuiper mega-constellation has surprisingly ordered three rocket launches from rival SpaceX. It seems the SpaceX launches are needed to ensure that Kuiper meets its ITU obligations to orbit 50 per cent of its 3,236 fleet by July-2026. Coincidentally, the order comes at the same time as a lawsuit from an institutional investor is […]

Amazon’s Project Kuiper proposed satellite broadband system has announced two major updates. It is formally linking with sister business Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing service and announced this week at ‘AWS re:Invent 2023’. The second announcement is a series of strategic partnerships in Japan with Japanese giant telco NTT and its NTT […]

The two prototype Amazon Kuiper broadband satellites are working as planned in orbit. Amazon states that the demo-spacecraft have demonstrated controlled manoeuvring in orbit using their purpose-built electric propulsion systems. The propulsion system is key to positioning and maintaining the satellites in orbit. “A recent series of test firings provided critical on-orbit data to further […]

Project Kuiper is the Amazon-backed broadband-by-satellite system which will comprise 3,236 craft circling the planet. Amazon says that its first two prototype satellites now in orbit are working well. They were launched on October 6th. Further tests to further validate the technology will take place over the next few weeks. In its statement, Amazon says […]

Amazon’s broadband-by-satellite Project Kuiper system is getting closer. Two prototype satellites will launch in the next few weeks. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket operator has confirmed that its next launch will carry Amazon’s KuiperSat-1 & 2 prototypes for their Project Kuiper mega-constellation. According to an insider source, reportedly the mission, known as the Project […]

Analysts at MoffettNathanson Research (MN), in a deep dive into prospects for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband mega-constellation, are asking some tough questions. They point out that as well as being head-to-head with Elon Musk’s Starlink, along with other would-be players in the orbital broadband space, Amazon is also facing considerable criticism from its own shareholders […]

A shareholder in Amazon (the Cleveland Bakers & Teamsters Pension Fund/CB&T) is suing the company alleging that Amazon snubbed potential launch contracts from SpaceX because of personal animosity between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Amazon, in a statement, said “the claims in this lawsuit are completely without merit, and we look forward to showing that […]

A pension fund which is a shareholder in Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the directors of Amazon alleging that they failed to consider SpaceX as a launch supplier for the Project Kuiper broadband by satellite scheme. The writ, filed in Delaware’s Chancery Court, argues that the directors “acted in bad faith” in approving the […]