“Our constellation will serve individual households, as well as businesses, schools, hospitals, government agencies, and other organizations operating in locations without reliable broadband.”Īmazon has applied to the FCC to increase its constellation to 7,774 satellites, which would allow it to cover regions further north and south, including Alaska, as Starlink does. The satellites are meant to orbit at an altitude of about 600 kilometers and cover latitudes from Canada to Argentina, reaching “95% of the world’s population,” the Amazon spokesperson said.

“Those rockets are largely behind schedule,” says Farrar.

Last month, the FCC gave Amazon the full green light to begin launching its satellites after the company finalized details of its plan to address concerns about its potential to increase space junk.īut there is a catch: none of the rockets Amazon has bought a ride on has yet made it to space (in fact, one launch vehicle Amazon had initially planned to use exploded in January). “We are on track to meet that deadline,” an Amazon spokesperson said. Under its license with the FCC, Amazon has until July 2026 to launch half its constellation. Thanks to Amazon’s multibillion-dollar deals with United Launch Alliance, Bezos’s Blue Origin in the US, and Arianespace in Europe, Project Kuiper satellites are expected to fly on 92 different launches over the next five years. To take on SpaceX, last year Amazon revealed it had essentially bought all the spare rocket launch capacity in the world (although with little effect on its rival, because SpaceX launches satellites on its own rockets).

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