Amazon introduced on Friday that it’s signed a contract with SpaceX to ship batches of its Mission Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit in 2025. SpaceX is undoubtedly Amazon’s greatest competitor because it breaks into the satellite tv for pc web area, and already has a constellation of over 4,000 Starlink satellites in operation. It’s additionally a rival of Blue Origin, the aerospace firm based by Jeff Bezos that has its personal rockets in improvement. However in the case of launches, SpaceX’s tempo and the reliability of its Falcon 9 rocket is unmatched.
The contract with SpaceX is for 3 Falcon 9 launches, Amazon mentioned in a weblog publish. They’re anticipated to elevate off in mid-2025. Amazon is planning to begin buyer pilots of its Mission Kuiper satellite tv for pc web service by the tip of subsequent 12 months, and can quickly begin deploying the fleet that may help it. It launched its first two prototype satellites in October. The corporate already has offers for upcoming launches on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket, Arianespace’s Ariane 6 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn — all of which have been hit by improvement delays and will or might not make their first flights between this 12 months and subsequent.
Amazon mentioned in its announcement that “the extra launches with SpaceX supply much more capability to help our deployment schedule.” The corporate has mentioned its Mission Kuiper constellation will consist of three,236 satellites, a minimum of half of which have to be in operation by summer season 2026 to adjust to its FCC license.