Amazon’s challenger to Starlink, Undertaking Kuiper, appears to be working into some delays. As per a weblog submit from Amazon, Undertaking Kuiper’s first launch is now estimated someday within the fourth quarter of 2024. Beforehand, the primary accomplished manufacturing satellites for Undertaking Kuiper had been anticipated to launch within the first half of 2024.
Amazon shared its up to date timeframe for Undertaking Kuiper in a weblog submit. As per the e-commerce big, the corporate is now anticipating to ship the primary accomplished manufacturing Undertaking Kuiper satellites to launch websites someday this summer time. The satellites, nonetheless, are anticipated to launch someday within the fourth quarter, with satellite tv for pc manufacturing anticipated to extend heading into 2025.
“We anticipate to ship our first accomplished manufacturing satellites this summer time, and we’re concentrating on our first full-scale Kuiper mission for This fall aboard an Atlas V rocket from ULA (United Launch Alliance). We’ll proceed to extend our charges of satellite tv for pc manufacturing and deployment heading into 2025, and we stay on monitor to start providing service to clients subsequent yr,” Amazon wrote in its weblog submit.
With Undertaking Kuiper’s preliminary launch pushed again to This fall, Amazon’s plans for a beta trial of its satellite tv for pc web system have additionally been delayed. Beforehand, beta trials of Undertaking Kuiper had been anticipated to start out later this yr with industrial clients. In an announcement to PCMag, Amazon famous that the beta trials at the moment are pushed again to subsequent yr. “We anticipate to start providing demonstrations to enterprise clients in early 2025,” Amazon knowledgeable the publication.
Whereas Amazon didn’t clarify the explanations behind Undertaking Kuiper’s delays, points with the satellite tv for pc web system’s launch companions could also be a notable issue, PCMag reported. Again in 2022, Amazon shared that it could be trying to make use of next-generation rockets from the ULA, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to help Undertaking Kuiper’s launches. To date, nonetheless, the ULA, Arianespace, and Blue Origin have encountered challenges with the event and deployment of their next-generation rockets.
This was hinted at in Amazon’s weblog submit, with the corporate noting that it could be utilizing the ULA’s Altas V, an older rocket, for Undertaking Kuiper’s preliminary launch later this yr. Amazon may additionally be seeing some strain from the FCC, because the company is reportedly requiring half of its proposed satellite tv for pc constellation for Undertaking Kuiper to be launched by July 2026.
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