Success as Amazon Lofts First 27 Project Kuiper Broadband Satellites

Online shopping giant Amazon last night succeeded in launching their first batch of 27 ultrafast broadband satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for Project Kuiper. The platforms were put into space by a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket that unleashed some 2.7 million pounds (12 megaNewtons) of thrust.

The company currently has approval to deploy and operate their own constellation of 3,236 LEO satellites as part of Project Kuiper and mission “KA-01” is merely the first of 80 such launches due over the next few years. The new spacecraft, each of which can process data traffic at speeds of up to 1Tbps (Terabits per second) – shared between many users, will ultimately come to rest at an altitude of between 590km and 630km.

The latency (often c.20-40ms) and speed of the new broadband service, once live, is expected to be similar to that of Starlink (SpaceX) and will similarly focus on reaching “unserved and underserved communities“. Project Kuiper’s smallest ultra-compact (7-inch square) ground terminals are, for example, expected to support downloads of “up to” 100Mbps (Megabits per second), while their slightly larger standard model (11 inches square) delivers up to 400Mbps, and the largest model (19 inches) should be able to deliver up to 1Gbps (Gigabit per second). The latter is more intended for government and enterprise users.

However, performance isn’t solely dictated by the satellites themselves, which means that Amazon will still need a strong global network of Ground Stations and supportive regulators in the USA, UK and many other countries in order to deliver an effective service (Ofcom has already granted approval).

The satellites flying on KA-01 are a “significant upgrade” from the two prototype satellites that Amazon tested in 2023, featuring better performance, phased array antennas, new processors, solar arrays, propulsion systems, and optical inter-satellite links. The satellites have also been coated in a dielectric mirror film, unique to Kuiper, that scatters reflected sunlight to help make them less visible to ground-based astronomers.

The first commercial beta service is expected to kick off with a few initial users around the end of 2025. The new network should provide some serious competition for SpaceX’s Starlink network, although the extremely high cost of creating such networks will limit Amazon’s ability to offer a significantly cheaper or more flexible service.

At the time of writing, it’s still too early to know whether the satellites themselves will reach their desired orbit without fault (this stage takes a bit of time), but so far everything appears to have gone as expected. As with other LEO constellations, the satellites are only designed to stay in orbit for a few years before they’re dragged back down to be burnt up (disposed) in the atmosphere.