Cape Canaveral, Fla. — Amazon’s first internet satellite rocketed into orbit Monday, the latest entry in the megaconstellation market, currently dominated by thousands of Starlinks on SpaceX.
The United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V Rocket carried the 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite, named after the frigid edge of the solar system beyond Neptune. Once released in orbit, the satellite will eventually reach an altitude of nearly 400 miles.
Two test satellites were launched in 2023 by Atlas V. Project officials said there was a major upgrade to the latest version. Modern satellites are also coated with mirror films designed to scatter reflected sunlight to accommodate astronomers.
Stargazer opposes the rapidly growing constellations of low-orbit satellites, claiming it is ruining observations. Others fear more satellite collisions.
Founded by Jeff Bezos, who currently runs his own rocket company, Blue Origin, Amazon aims to bring more than 3,200 of these satellites into orbit, providing fast, affordable broadband services around the world.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has already launched over 8,000 Starlinks since 2019. The company marked its 250th Starlink launch on Sunday night. Over 7,000 Starlinks are still in orbit over 300 miles on Earth.
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Based in Europe, the number of OneWeb Satellite signs is hundreds on even higher orbits.
Amazon has already purchased dozens of rocket launches from Project Kuiper and other Project Kuiper’s United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin.
Despite extensive testing on the ground, “There are some things you can only learn while flying,” says Rajeev Badyal, vice president of the project.
“No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the beginning of our journey,” he said in a statement ahead of the evening lift-off.
The first lift-off attempt earlier this month was released by bad weather. It took time so far to secure another location with the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch lineup.
Mercia Dunn
