Amazon reports that it has successfully deployed the first batch of operational broadband satellites for the company’s Project Kuiper low earth orbit (LEO) network, marking the beginning of the constellation’s full-scale rollout.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) oversaw the launch of the Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in the US, delivering the Kuiper-1 mission into orbit.
The launch is the first in a planned series that will see Amazon deploy over 3,200 satellites to provide global broadband coverage.
The Kuiper-1 mission builds on earlier prototype launches and will be followed by a series of high-frequency deployments using ULA’s next-generation Vulcan rocket, the company says, with ULA expected to deliver more than half of the Kuiper constellation.
The first two prototype Project Kuiper satellites were launched for testing in late 2023, with demonstrations of 4K video streaming and two-way video calls over the network completed successfully.
Amazon had hoped to follow this up with full-scale deployment starting in the first half of 2024, but delays to the programme have seen these first launches of operational satellites pushed back to this year.
