PROJECT KUIPER: AMAZON
- Team Techcharcha
- Jul 11, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 6, 2020
Amazon wants permission from the U.S. Federal communications commission (FCC) to launch 3,236 satellites that would deliver broadband to tens of millions of underserved customers around the world via the network, which is the company is developing under the code-name Project Kuiper.
Kuiper is the name of a belt of objects that include asteroids and draft planets. It was named for the late Dutch American astronomer Gerard Kuiper.
GreekWire is the first reported news of Project Kuiper in April when Amazon revealed plant to put more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit for global broadband coverage.
Amazon said the goal of the project is to bring connectivity to under-resourced parts of the world.
“This is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet,”
The company said in a statement.
“We look forward to partnering on this initiative with companies that share this common vision.”
Amazon in its FCC application said its satellites would operate at altitudes of about 370 to 390 miles (590 to 630 kilometers). These satellites include 784 satellites at an altitude of 367 miles(590 kilometers);1,296 satellites at a height of 379 miles(610 kilometers); and 1,156 satellites in 391 miles(630 kilometers) orbits.
In its technical analysis, Kuiper Systems says it can start offering satellite broadband service once it finishes the first of five phases of deployment by putting 578 satellites in their proper orbits. Like SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, Kuiper’s satellites would be launched into lower orbits at first, and then have those orbits raised once they’re checked out.
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos last month said the Kuiper project would cost “multiple billions of dollars.” The project is separate from Bezos’ space launch vehicle maker, Blue Origin.
“Amazon’s mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, and the Kuiper System is one of our ambitious projects to fulfill this mission,” the application reads. “The Kuiper System will deliver satellite broadband communications services to tens of millions of unserved and underserved consumers and businesses in the United States and around the globe.”
In 2017, more than 26% of people who lived in rural areas in the U.S. were not covered by terrestrial broadband internet service, according to a May report from the Federal Communications Commission; 33 million Americans don’t have access to speedy mobile service. Worldwide, 3.8 billion people remain without fast and reliable broadband service, according to Amazon’s application; industry experts have estimated that only 10% to 20% of the Earth’s land area is covered by terrestrial cell towers.
Amazon said in its FCC filing that it would help serve U.S. communities “by offering fixed broadband communications services to rural and hard-to-reach areas.” The Kuiper System will help mobile network operators to expand wireless services, Amazon said in its application. It also offered the prospect of “high-throughput mobile broadband connectivity services for aircraft, maritime vessels, and land vehicles.”
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