telecommunications
Test satellites for Amazon’s Startlink competition in space
Amazon is showing prototypes of antennas for its planned Kuiper service to provide internet from space. photo
© Andrej Sokolow/dpa
Elon Musk has competition. Amazon is entering the satellite business in a big way. Now there was a first test.
Amazon announced at the weekend that the KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 satellites had established a connection to the ground station as planned after launching in Florida.
Amazon wants to build and launch around 3,200 satellites into space in the coming years. They are intended to provide broadband internet service directly from space from a relatively low orbit. The service is interesting, for example, for telecommunications companies that do not want to build expensive infrastructure in remote or sparsely populated areas.
Amazon wants to launch the first regular Kuiper satellites into space at the beginning of 2024 and begin operations for the first test customers at the end of the year. The two test satellites are expected to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere after the tests have been completed.
Musk’s Starlink is also used by Ukraine, where Russian troops deliberately damaged telecommunications networks in their war of aggression. However, the tech billionaire recently said that he prevented a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet because he refused to activate Starlink coverage in the area.
Amazon updates on Kuiper test satellites