By Mike Wall
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday evening carrying 27 of Amazon’s “Project Kuiper” broadband spacecraft toward low Earth orbit (LEO).
It was the first of more than 80 planned launches to build out the Project Kuiper megaconstellation, which will eventually harbor more than 3,200 spacecraft.
That’s a big number, but it won’t set a record; SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, which already beams service down to customers around the world, currently consists of more than 7,200 operational spacecraft.
And Starlink — perhaps Project Kuiper’s biggest competitor — is growing all the time: SpaceX has launched 31 Starlink missions so far this year, with many more on the docket. In fact, there was a Starlink launch less than three hours before today’s Atlas V launch, with another planned for less than four hours after.
If all goes according to plan today, the Atlas V will deploy the 27 Project Kuiper satellites 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth. The spacecraft will then make their own way to their operational altitude of 392 miles (630 km).
“This involves sending data from the internet, through our ground infrastructure, up to the satellites, and down to customer terminal antennas, and then repeating the journey in the other direction,” they added.
Project Kuiper is expected to begin providing coverage to customers later this year, according to Amazon.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
