Amazon launches its first satellites to rival Starlink

The 27 Project Kuiper satellites were carried into LEO by a United Launch Alliance rocket connected Monday.

Amazon’s Kuiper broadband net constellation is starting to instrumentality shape, with its archetypal batch of satellites shipped and deployed into abstraction connected Monday. The motorboat is conscionable the archetypal of 80 that Amazon has lined up to instrumentality each 3,236 Project Kuiper satellites into low-Earth orbit arsenic portion of the retail giant’s effort to vie with Starlink — SpaceX’s market-dominating outer net business.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying Amazon’s archetypal 27 Kuiper satellites was launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station astatine 7PM ET connected April 28th, aft its first effort connected April 9th was scrubbed owed to mediocre upwind conditions.

“While this is the archetypal measurement successful a overmuch longer travel to motorboat the remainder of our debased Earth orbit constellation, it represents an unthinkable magnitude of invention and hard work,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said connected X. “Am truly arrogant of the corporate team.”

The Kuiper satellites were deployed 280 miles (450 kilometers) supra Earth, and Amazon has confirmed that the satellites are successfully activated and communicating with crushed systems. If each goes to plan, Amazon said it expects to commencement providing “high-speed, low-latency” outer net to customers “later this year.”

“This motorboat marks the archetypal measurement towards the aboriginal of our concern and accrued motorboat cadence,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno said successful a post-launch statement. “We person been steadily modifying our motorboat facilities successful Cape Canaveral to enactment the capableness for aboriginal Project Kuiper missions successful a mode that volition yet payment some our commercialized and authorities customers arsenic we endeavor to prevention lives, research the beingness and link the world.”

The $10 cardinal Project Kuiper plan was announced successful 2019 and is present nether a deadline from the US Federal Communications Commission to person 1,618 satellites deployed by mid-2026 — fractional of its full constellation, but importantly less than the much than 7,200 satellites that Starlink already has successful operation. By contrast, SpaceX announced yesterday that it had completed its 50th Starlink ngo of 2025, passing a full milestone of 250 dedicated Starlink launches to date. The institution is presently aiming to person 12,000 Starlink satellites successful orbit, but already has regulatory support to grow to 34,400 satellites. 

Amazon is 1 of respective companies, including France’s Eutelsat and China’s Spacesail, seeking to supply a viable alternate to Starlink’s network, but SpaceX has a important caput start — and low-Earth orbit is already starting to look beauteous cluttered.