It Is Reported That Amazon's Satellite Internet Project "project Kuiper" Has Finally Made Progress. Over The Next Five Years, Amazon Will Put Thousands Of Satellites Into Low Earth Orbit, Challenging Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technology Company SpaceX. As Early As April 2019, Amazon Announced The Establishment Of A Satellite Network, Which Will Be Composed Of 3236 Satellites To Provide Broadband Internet Services To Users Around The World.
Last Month, Amazon Just Signed A Multi Billion Dollar Launch Contract With Three Companies, The Largest Rocket Deal In Commercial Aerospace History. In The Next Five Years, The Three Companies Will Conduct Up To 83 Launches For Project Kuiper.
The Three Companies Are Blue Origin Under Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, The Joint Venture "United Launch Alliance" Of Boeing And Lockheed Martin, And Arianespace In Europe.
Among Them, Ariana Space Will Use Ariane 6 Rocket To Launch 18 Times For Amazon, Blue Origin Will Use New Glenn Rocket To Launch 12 Times (which Can Be Increased To 15 Times), And The Joint Launch Alliance Will Use Vulcan Centaur Rocket To Launch 38 Times. According To The Plan, Project Kuiper Will Launch Two Prototype Satellites Before The End Of This Year.
In Response, Industry Insider Michael Sheetz Said: "in Many Ways, This Is A Response And Competition To Musk And SpaceX's Starlink Satellite Network." Although Amazon First Disclosed The Project Kuiper Project In 2019, The Latest Launch Contract Gives It New Impetus.
At Present, SpaceX's "star Chain" Has About 2000 Satellites In Orbit, Providing Services To About 250000 Users. It Is Reported That The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Has Approved SpaceX To Launch A Total Of 12000 Satellites.
Although Amazon Has Not Yet Launched A Satellite, It Is Still Likely To Become An Important Player In The Market. Amazon Has Said It Plans To Invest More Than $10 Billion In The Project Kuiper Satellite Network.
Caleb Henry, Senior Analyst At Quilty Analytics, A Satellite Market Research Firm, Said: "the Satellite Communications Market Is Worth Tens Of Billions Of Dollars. No One Believes That One Company Can 'take All' The Market. We Expect At Least Two Or More Satellite Networks To Appear. They Will Serve Not Only Residential Consumers, But Also Any Type Of Enterprise Or Organization That Relies On Internet Connectivity."
Last November, Amazon Applied To The FCC For Approval To Launch 4538 More Satellites To Expand Its Project Kuiper Satellite Network, Thus Increasing The Number Of Satellites To 7774.
According To The Data Of The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Under The United Nations, About 37% Of The World's Population Has Never Used The Internet, Of Which 96% Live In Developing Countries.
"Amazon Is Called 'everything Company' (Everything Covers Everything), And Without The Internet, It Is Difficult To Become Everything Company. Amazon's Fastest-growing Area Is Its AWS Cloud Service. In Order To Support This, They Have Established A Large Number Of Internet Infrastructure, Whether It Is Data Center Or Optical Fiber," Henry Said
Henry Believes That The Space Business Is A "very Natural Expansion" Of Amazon's Data Business And Consumer Business.
Although The Satellite Has Not Been Launched Yet, Last October, Amazon And Verizon, An American Telecom Operator, Jointly Announced That Verizon Will Use Amazon's Project Kuiper Satellite Network To Provide Broadband Internet Services For Rural And Remote Areas.