Amazon aims to launch first Project Kuiper satellites by year's end aboard ULA Atlas V
Amazon hopes to launch its first full-scale Project Kuiper mission during the fourth quarter of the year — think October, November or December — aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral.
"We're going to continue to increase our rates of satellite production and deployment heading into 2025. And we remain on track to begin offering service to customers next year, which we're very excited by," said Brian Huseman, Amazon vice president of public policy and community engagement.
Huseman made the Project Kuiper timing announcement during a Friday morning speech at the Space Coast Symposium, which drew a sellout crowd to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Project Kuiper: Amazon to expand Cape Canaveral facilities for future Project Kuiper satellite constellation
Amazon's $10 billion Project Kuiper will create a flexible, high-performance broadband network using a constellation of 3,232 satellites. Huseman said the e-commerce giant has secured 80 launches with Arianespace, Blue Origin, SpaceX and ULA to deploy the constellation — "and together, those agreements represent the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history."
Asked for more details after his speech, Huseman said he did not have further information about the landmark launch's timing, nor how many internet-beaming satellites will be sent up into space.
Project Kuiper prototype mission declared successful
Last October, a 196-foot-tall ULA Atlas V launched Amazon's prototype KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 satellites into low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
During Friday's speech, Huseman said both prototype satellites are "in the process of safely de-orbiting now." He said both satellites accomplished a 100% success rate across the mission's objectives.
Amazon is constructing a $120 million, 100,000-square-foot satellite processing plant at NASA's Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. Thursday, the company announced this complex will expand to include a 42,000-square-foot flight hardware building, adding another $19.5 million investment.
Huseman said Amazon has hired 45 full-time workers for these Space Coast facilities, with another 15 employees expected to be hired in light of the expansion.
Project Kuiper has competition already in the skies with SpaceX's Starlink internet satellite constellation, which began launching in 2019. SpaceX has thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit thanks to regular Falcon 9 launches from the Space Coast and California.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Project Kuiper's first satellites may launch in Q4 from Cape Canaveral
