Amazon’s Project Kuiper has deployed its 102nd low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite following its latest launch of 24 new spacecraft, marking the fourth mission in the planned 80-plus launches required to complete its initial network.
The KF-02 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, with the launch managed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – owner of competitor LEO network Starlink.
The latest deployment brings the Kuiper constellation past the 100-satellite mark in the four months since the programme’s first launch in April. The satellites separated from the launch vehicle at an altitude of 465 km and will manoeuvre to their operational orbit of 630 km in the coming months.
Project Kuiper aims to provide global high-speed internet connectivity via a planned 3,200-plus satellite network. Amazon has invested more than $140 million in a dedicated 100,000-square-foot payload processing facility at Kennedy Space Center, designed to support up to three simultaneous launch campaigns and process more than 100 satellites per month. A secondary $19.5 million support site is also under construction to accelerate operations.
The latest launch follows earlier missions using both SpaceX Falcon 9 and ULA Atlas V rockets, with Kuiper’s deployment schedule drawing on agreements for more than 80 launches with Arianespace, Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA.
Amazon says the expansion of its Florida processing hub and ongoing mission cadence will allow the service to begin initial customer operations once enough satellites reach their designated orbits.
