Amazon’s Project Kuiper books up to 83 rockets to launch its internet-beaming satellites

Image: Blue Origin

Amazon's planned internet-from-space initiative has booked dozens of new launches on three different rockets. The satellites will fly on powerful rockets currently being developed by European launch provider Arianespace, US-based United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin.

Over a five-year period, up to 83 launches are set to take place, allowing Project Kuiper to launch the bulk of its planned constellation of 3,236 satellites. James Watkins, a spokesman for Project Kuiper, said that the company is investing billions of dollars across the three deals. Amazon claimed that the deal is the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history.

Project Kuiper needs a lot of rocketry to get its megaconstellation into space. The Amazon subsidiary plans to create a massive array of satellites in low Earth orbit, designed to provide low-latency broadband internet service to all parts of the globe. Users need to purchase one of the company's user antennas to use the system. The terminals are looking for satellites. Satellites relay signals from ground stations to and from the internet infrastructure.

The concept is similar to the Starlink program, which is a planned constellation of tens of thousands of satellites. Starlink is a few years ahead of Project Kuiper. More than 2,000 satellites have been launched into the air by the company, and they have begun limited service around the world. Project Kuiper has yet to launch any satellites.

The company wants to change that this year. A year ago, Amazon announced that it had purchased nine Atlas V rocket launches from the United Launch Alliance. The first two prototype satellites will be launched on an experimental new rocket called theRS1, which is being developed by ABL Space Systems. The first prototype flights are expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2022. It depends on the time of the RS1 being ready. According to Space News, ABL Space Systems had a testing mistake during the development of the rocket in January, which caused the company's timelines to be pushed back by three months.

According to Watkins, nothing has changed regarding the agreement with ABL Space Systems. The Atlas V or three rockets in the new deal can be used for the first prototype launches. Three rockets are still in development, including Arianespace's Ariane 6, ULA's Vulcan rocket and Blue Origin's New Glenn. Project Kuiper has booked 38 launches with ULA, 18 with Arianespace, and at least 12 with Blue Origin, with the option to buy another 15 from the latter.

The three rockets have been delayed years beyond their target debut. Arianespace, ULA, and Blue Origin all expect to launch their rockets in late 2022, while New Glenn will not fly until at least 2023.

The Atlas V is the only rocket that is currently operational. When Arianespace, ULA, and Blue Origin's rockets begin flying, they should have higher carrying capacities than the Atlas V, which will allow Amazon to fit more satellites onto one rocket at a time. Project Kuiper isn't saying how many rockets can fit on each vehicle.

Amazon needs to launch its prototypes. The company will change the design of its final satellites after that. Amazon won't say which order of rockets it will use, but now the company has more than 90 different launches to choose from.