#Amazon project canvas full
#Amazon project canvas license

“Costs will come down, but to what extent is really the question,” says Sachdeva. But whether costs will ever get low enough for that to be achievable remains to be seen.

“It makes a lot of sense for them to have this constellation to provide connectivity.”Īmazon is not yet disclosing the pricing of its service but has previously said a goal is to “bridge the digital divide” by bringing fast and affordable broadband to “underserved communities,” an ambition Starlink has also professed. “Amazon’s business model relies on people having internet connectivity,” says Shagun Sachdeva, an industry expert at the space investment firm Kosmic Apple in France. Andy Jassy, Amazon’s current CEO, has said that Kuiper has a chance of becoming a “fourth pillar” for the company, alongside its retail marketplace, Amazon Prime, and its widely used cloud computing service, Amazon Web Services According to a letter to shareholders last year, Amazon is spending “over $10 billion” to develop Kuiper, with more than 1,000 employees working on the project. There are riches to be had: SpaceX currently charges $110 a month to access Starlink, with an up-front cost of $599 for an antenna to connect to the satellites. “Our constellation will serve individual households, as well as businesses, schools, hospitals, government agencies, and other organizations operating in locations without reliable broadband.”Īmazon has applied to the FCC to increase its constellation to 7,774 satellites, which would allow it to cover regions further north and south, including Alaska, as Starlink does. The satellites are meant to orbit at an altitude of about 600 kilometers and cover latitudes from Canada to Argentina, reaching “95% of the world’s population,” the Amazon spokesperson said. “Those rockets are largely behind schedule,” says Farrar.

#Amazon project canvas full

Last month, the FCC gave Amazon the full green light to begin launching its satellites after the company finalized details of its plan to address concerns about its potential to increase space junk.īut there is a catch: none of the rockets Amazon has bought a ride on has yet made it to space (in fact, one launch vehicle Amazon had initially planned to use exploded in January). “We are on track to meet that deadline,” an Amazon spokesperson said.

#Amazon project canvas license

Under its license with the FCC, Amazon has until July 2026 to launch half its constellation. Thanks to Amazon’s multibillion-dollar deals with United Launch Alliance, Bezos’s Blue Origin in the US, and Arianespace in Europe, Project Kuiper satellites are expected to fly on 92 different launches over the next five years. To take on SpaceX, last year Amazon revealed it had essentially bought all the spare rocket launch capacity in the world (although with little effect on its rival, because SpaceX launches satellites on its own rockets).