Amazon to test satellite Internet service starting next year
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AMAZON.COM plans to launch its first Project Kuiper production satellites in 2024 and start beta testing its ambitious Internet-from-space service with customers the same year.
Dave Limp, Amazon’s senior vice-president of devices and services, revealed the timeline at a satellite industry trade show in Washington, DC, on Tuesday (Mar 14). He also showcased various prototype user terminals that future customers will use to tap into the satellite constellation. The prototypes included three different sized antennas, including a small seven-inch-square model only slightly bigger than an Amazon Kindle.
“This is dramatically different than anything you’ve ever seen” from a low-Earth orbit constellation, Limp said during the fireside chat.
Amazon’s smallest model offers speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. A larger 11-inch-square antenna is capable of 400 megabits per second, and a 19-inch by 30-inch model can handle 1 gigabit per second, Amazon said. The company didn’t disclose prices for the devices but expects to manufacture the 11-inch-square version for less than US$400 apiece.
The announcements underscore Amazon’s commitment to one of its biggest areas of investment, even as the company trims its ambitions elsewhere. Amazon earlier this year wrapped up its largest-ever layoffs, cuts that fell heavily on Limp’s devices group, which makes Echo smart speakers, Kindle tablets and other devices. He reiterated that Amazon planned to invest more than US$10 billion on the Kuiper venture.
Amazon shares rose 2.5 per cent at 11.36 am in New York.
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Project Kuiper is Amazon’s planned constellation of 3,236 low-Earth satellites, designed to blanket the globe and provide low-latency Internet coverage to millions of potential customers. It’s a similar concept to SpaceX’s Starlink broadband mega constellation, which has already launched roughly 4,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit and claims to have more than 1 million customers.
Limp also said the first two test Kuiper satellites have been shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for a possible launch in May as secondary payloads on the debut flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan rocket. ULA is currently targeting a May 4 launch. BLOOMBERG
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