Amazon has partnered with Arianespace, the United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin for 83 launches over a five-year period, which will allow it to send most of the 3.236 satellites in its constellation into space.
Through Project Kuiper, Amazon plans to put more than 2022 Internet satellites into orbit. The company had already revealed that it planned to launch its first two satellite prototypes in the last quarter of XNUMX and now makes it known that it has entered into new partnerships for the launch of its satellites.
According to the technological giant, partnerships were closed with Arianespace, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) and also with Blue Origin for 83 launches over a period of five years, which will allow sending most of the 3.236 launches into space. satellites of your constellation.
Amazon details that ULA will be responsible for a total of 47 launches with the Vulcan Centaur and Atlas V rockets. Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket will take satellites into space over 18 launches and Blue Origin, with the New Glenn rocket, will be responsible for 12 releases. For now, no dates are known for sending the satellites into orbit.
If all goes according to plan, Amazon will launch the KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 prototypes into space aboard the ABL Space Systems RS1 rocket later this year. The prototypes will allow the company to test the communication systems and networks that will be used in the final version of the equipment.
The KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 prototypes include much of the technology that will be part of the final version of the Project Kuiper satellites, such as the design itself, antennas, systems and modems.
According to the company, the prototypes are designed to leave their orbit as soon as the mission ends and additional measures will be taken to avoid and mitigate the risk of orbital debris.
Amazon has also committed to collaborating with astronomers and other industry entities to reduce the visibility of the satellite constellation and one of the prototypes will include a solar shield to help experts understand whether this is an effective way to mitigate the problem.
