A prototype launch for Amazon’s satellite internet service Project Kuiper is getting pushed back from Q4 to next year’s Q1.
The company originally intended to launch the prototype satellites, Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2, during the fourth quarter by sending them onboard an RS-1 Rocket from ABL Space Systems. But on Wednesday, Amazon announced it’s actually going to deploy the prototypes through a new launch provider, United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The goal is to send up Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2 through ULA’s upcoming Vulcan Centaur rocket early next year. “ULA is scheduled to provide 47 launches for our satellite constellation, and using Vulcan Centaur for this mission will give us practical experience working together ahead of those launches,” the company wrote in a blog post.
The Kuiper satellites are scheduled to fly on a Vulcan Centaur rocket that’ll also carry the NASA-sponsored Peregrine lunar lander. The same launch is also expected to be the maiden flight for the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Reuters reports ULA recently decided to push back the maiden flight from the fourth quarter to early next year so that the makers of the Peregrine lunar lander had more time to finish its development.
Despite the launch delay, Amazon says its work on the prototype Project Kuiper satellites is still scheduled to be completed this year. The team has also begun scaling production to “support a full deployment,” the company added.
“Our first production satellites —the more advanced spacecraft that will power our commercial broadband service— are scheduled to launch on ULA’s Atlas V rocket. From there, we will begin to phase in the Vulcan rocket alongside newer heavy-lift rockets from two other space launch companies, Arianespace and Blue Origin,” Amazon said.
Amazon aims to eventually operate 3,236 satellites in orbit to beam high-speed broadband to users worldwide. However, Amazon has to play catch up with Starlink, the rival low-Earth satellite internet service from SpaceX.
Starlink currently spans over 3,100 satellites in Earth’s orbit, and the company has plans to launch tens of thousands more in the coming years, assuming it can receive approval from the FCC. In addition, the system is already serving 700,000 customers across the planet, according to the French newspaper Le Monde.
Amazon says in total it’s secured 92 launches with ULA, Arianespace, and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to deploy the 3,236 satellites. “We also plan to retain two launches with ABL Space Systems, which was originally slotted to carry our two prototype satellites using its all-new RS1 rocket,” the company added.
Amazon also noted the Project Kuiper Team has grown from 700 employees to more than 1,000 over the past year. “And the team is making considerable progress as we prepare to serve tens of millions of customers around the world,” it added.
The prototype Project Kuiper satellites are designed to help Amazon refine the technology's space-based broadband capabilities. During the test, Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2 will attempt to communicate with ground stations located in South America, the Asia-Pacific region, and in McCulloch, Texas. The company has also previously said Project Kuiper is capable of delivering internet speeds up to 400Mbps.