By
Chimamanda U. Martha
March 13th, 2024
The Amazon Project Kuiper aims to offer high-speed internet to every part of the world.
As Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) prepares to contend with Elon Musk’s SpaceX with Project Kuiper, the tech company plans to launch its first internet satellites into space before mid-2024. In its quest to provide broadband internet to global consumers, the company also intends to offer initial commercial tests of the satellite internet shortly after launching into space. Senior vice president of Amazon devices, Dave Limp, stated that the company will “definitely be beta testing with commercial customers in 2024.”
Latest News on Amazon Project Kuiper
Amazon announced that its internet unit, Project Kuiper, will kickstart the mass production of the satellites later in 2023. The produced internet would be the first of the more than 3,000 satellites designed to roll out in low-Earth orbit over the coming years. Notably, the complete internet satellites to be launched by Amazon under the Kuiper Project are a total of 3,236. To actualize its vision, the multinational company plans to develop between three and five satellites daily. Amazon could meet a regulatory mandate to launch half of the entire network by 2026 if it maintains the daily target.
The Amazon Project Kuiper aims to offer high-speed internet to every part of the world. After the company’s system, which Amazon said it would invest over $10 billion to build, got the green light from the Federal Communications Commission in 2020, it
On Tuesday, Amazon revealed a trio of satellite antennas. It said that the “standard,” also referred to as a customer terminal, would cost the tech less than $400 to produce each. The standard will see to the standard design delivering speeds of up to 400 megabits per second (Mbps). The vice president of technology for Project Kuiper at Amazon, Rajeev Badyal, wrote:
“Every technology and business decision we’ve had has centered on what will deliver the best experience for different customers around the world, and our range of customer terminals reflect those choices.”
Amazon’s Ultra-Compact Model Satellite Antenna
The other satellite’s antenna is an “ultra-compact” model and Amazon refers to it as the smallest and most affordable. While the standard design is below 11 inches square and an inch thick, the ultra-compact model is 7 inches square and weighs about 1 pound. It will offer up to 100 Mbps, and Amazon’s intention is to offer the antenna to residential customers, government and enterprise customers.
Amazon named the largest antenna design under the Kuiper Project the “pro” model. The tech giant confirmed that its speed delivery would be up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) via space. However, Amazon is yet to specify the monthly service cost for Project Kuiper customers.
At press time, the technology company’s stock is up 0.11% to $94.98 in premarket trading.