Amazon launches Project Kuiper satellites, takes on Elon Musk's Starlink

Amazon has launched the first operational batch of 27 satellites for its long-awaited Project Kuiper, as reported by Reuters. This marks a major step in the company’s $10 billion ambition to build a global broadband network that competes directly with SpaceX’s dominant Starlink service.

The satellites were sent into low-Earth orbit on Monday at 7pm EDT, riding atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch marks the beginning of Amazon’s effort to deploy a constellation of 3,236 satellites designed to deliver internet coverage to underserved and remote regions across the globe.

The mission follows years of delays and comes amid increasing scrutiny over whether Amazon is too late to challenge Starlink’s strong market position. Elon Musk’s SpaceX already has over 4.6 million Starlink subscribers globally and a functional constellation operating around 550 kilometres above Earth.

Speaking to Reuters in January, Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos remained optimistic: "There’s insatiable demand [for internet]," he said. "There’s room for lots of winners there… I predict Starlink will continue to be successful, and I predict Kuiper will be successful as well."

However, experts believe that it might be too late for Amazon now.

Craig Moffett, senior managing director at MoffettNathanson, told CNN that Kuiper has "a long way to go to catch up" and that "there is a very, very high probability that this will turn out to be too late for it to ever come close to being an attractive investment."

The financial burden is indeed substantial. CNN reported that according to an October report from financial services company Raymond James, setting up the full Kuiper system could cost Amazon up to $17 billion.

Still, Amazon believes it can leverage its vast cloud infrastructure and consumer ecosystem, via Amazon Web Services and hardware like Alexa devices, to offer Kuiper as a compelling and integrated connectivity solution.

As Bezos noted, while Kuiper is largely a commercial project, there may also be defence applications in the future. For now, the focus is squarely on getting the constellation off the ground, both literally and financially.