The Amazon-funded Project Kuiper mega-constellation of more than 3,000 low Earth orbiting broadband satellites, is promising download speeds of up to 400 Mb/s, significantly ahead of SpaceX’s Starlinks. Amazon has earmarked some $10 billion (€9.24bn) for the scheme. Most Starlink users report download speeds of around 100-150 Mb/s. There is no quoted certainty, but users […]
The Amazon-backed Project Kuiper low Earth orbiting (LEO) broadband satellite system moved a major step closer with the establishment of a satellite processing and test facility in Florida. Kuiper is investing $120 million in a 100,000 sq ft factory which is being built near the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Kuiper received its FCC licence […]
Arianespace has provided a detailed timetable for the introduction of the new Ariane 6 version. The final Ariane 5 rocket will launch on July 4th. Ariane 6 is already extremely late and the original objective was for the rocket to seamlessly take over the launch missions from Ariane 5. While managers have stressed that there […]
SpaceX, already the world’s busiest supplier of rocket launch capacity, says it can do more and could increase its launch frequency. A series of expert panels at the recent Satellite 2023 event in Washington, DC, talked about anticipated shortages in launch capacity especially in the 2024-2027 time frame. The decision by the Jeff Bezos-backed Project […]
OneWeb already has some two-thirds of its 648 broadband constellation in orbit while Amazon’s Kuiper has yet to start launching its initial fleet of 3,236 satellites. Elon Musk’s Starlink has launched 2,706 craft into their target low Earth orbits. Some of the Starlinks have failed but OneWeb and Kuiper have agreed a set of planned […]
Arianespace has been silent on any launch delays for its important Ariane 6 rocket. However, the director general of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, told the BBC that the new rocket will not fly until some time next year. Critics have suggested that Aschbacher did not attempt to disguise his words with phrases like […]
Inmarsat has warned that space is getting increasingly crowded with “dangerous levels of space debris from satellite constellations planned by Elon Musk’s Starlink, Amazon, Chinese operators and others”. Inmarsat CEO Rajeev Suri welcomed innovation in satellite constellations in low Earth orbit but added that there should be better industry and regulatory co-ordination as they are […]
Back at the Satellite 2017 show, in front of thousands of delegates, Eutelsat’s then CEO Rodolphe Belmer signed a contract with Jeff Bezos for the very first order for Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Eutelsat and Blue Origin, in a statement at the time, said the rocket would be ready “by the end of the […]
One of the mostly ignored elements of the Amazon Project Kuiper multi-rocket news – which in the words of Quilty Analytics “rightfully grabbed all the headlines” – might not be the most important story. Quilty says that Amazon’s announcement that it can build an all-electronically-steered flat panel antenna (FPA) for about $500 represents an earth-shattering […]
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has contracted with three rocket launch companies to a 5- year launch timetable to place his 3236 ‘Project Kuiper’ satellites into orbit. Kuiper has until July 30th 2026 to launch at least half of its constellation (1618 satellites) to retain its FCC orbital and frequency permissions. The cargo being carried works […]