Satellite agreement between SpaceX and Amazon
Ventures into space internet are increasing, and Amazon, which draws attention with its initiative in this field, has reached an agreement with SpaceX on satellite deployment.
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Amazon is turning to one of its biggest competitors for help in sending its Project Kuiper internet satellites into space. According to an announcement made by Amazon on Friday, the company will use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for three launches starting in 2025.
"SATELLITE PROGRAM" AGREEMENT
Project Kuiper is known as Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite program that can provide internet connectivity to users around the world.
Amazon launched its first two Project Kuiper test satellites into space in October and succeeded in connecting to the internet and making a two-way video call. However, it still has a long way to go to catch up with SpaceX's Starlink, which has already deployed approximately 5,000 satellites.
BETA TESTS TO BEGIN NEXT YEAR
Despite the competition between the two companies, Amazon's choice of SpaceX as a future launch provider is not much of a surprise. As noted in an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal, satellite companies and government agencies have increasingly preferred SpaceX's reusable rockets over time for consistent and cheaper launches.
Of course, most of Amazon's satellites will not be launched by SpaceX. Except for the satellites mentioned, the rest will be carried into space by Arianespace, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA).
More Project Kuiper satellites will be deployed into orbit in the first half of 2024, with beta tests starting towards the end of next year.