Amazon taps Falcon 9 rocket to help launch Kuiper satellites

Amazon on Friday said it booked three Falcon 9 launches with Elon Musk's SpaceX to help deploy the e-commerce giant's Project Kuiper satellite network, tapping a rival in the satellite internet business for its multi-billion dollar launch campaign.

Amazon aims to build Kuiper as a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to beam broadband internet globally and compete with SpaceX's Starlink network, which already has some 5,000 satellites providing nearly global coverage.

Amazon, which vowed in 2019 to invest $10 billion into the project, will put an unspecified number of Kuiper satellites on three Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX beginning in mid-2025, the company said Friday.

The Falcon 9 missions add to 83 rocket launches it had already procured from Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin, the Boeing-Lockheed, joint venture United Launch Alliance and Europe's Arianespace in a multi-billion dollar launch deal.

Amazon was sued by a shareholder in August for not adequately considering SpaceX as a launch provider when it was selecting most of the 83 other rides to space in late 2021 and 2022. The company said the lawsuit's claims "are completely without merit."

Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund, a fund that lodged the suit in a Delaware court, said in its complaint the launch contracts were the second-largest capital expenditure in Amazon's history at the time.

Amazon's largest acquisition is its $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods in 2017.

Amazon's announcement that it added SpaceX rockets to its launch campaign comes just three days before its deadline to lodge a substantive defence against the shareholder lawsuit, according to a court scheduling order.

Amazon in September filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it would detail its defence in a later briefing. On Friday, the same day as Amazon's SpaceX announcement, the court set a deadline of Dec. 4 for Amazon to outline its motion to dismiss.

SpaceX's partially reusable Falcon 9 rockets have been a crucial advantage over rivals in its rapid deployment of Starlink, a fast-growing internet network that made the Musk-owned company the world's largest satellite operator.

Eutelsat's OneWeb, another satellite internet rival, relied on Russia's Soyuz rocket for deploying the bulk of its network. But OneWeb turned to SpaceX when Russia invaded Ukraine and seized $50 million worth of the company's satellites.

US regulators require Amazon to deploy half of the Kuiper network by 2026. The company launched its first two prototype satellites in orbit in October and announced successful tests last month.

Amazon expects to deploy enough satellites for "early customer pilots" in the second half of 2024. It plans to use United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 and the yet-to-launch Vulcan rocket for the first few batches of satellites.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Airbnb Is Banning Renters From Having Cameras Inside Their Listings

A irbnb hosts may have good reasons to want to install security cameras inside properties they rent out—they’ve been used to catch theft, or vandalism, or even just non-compliance with rental rules. But concerns about privacy violations have pushed the property rental company Airbnb to ban all indoor security cameras in all of its listings worldwide. “Our goal was to create new, clear rules that provide our community with greater clarity about what to expect on Airbnb,” Juniper Downs, Airbnb’s head of community policy and partnerships, said in a blog post by the San Francisco-based company announcing the new measure on Monday. “These changes were made in consultation with our guests, Hosts and privacy experts, and we’ll continue to seek feedback to help ensure our policies work for our global community.” Changes to their policy, according to Airbnb, which previously allowed indoor cameras in common areas such as living rooms so long as they were disclosed, will take effect on April 30.
Read more

SA. “Jaw-Dropping Discovery: Fishermen Amazed by Enormous Object Caught in Nets, Unveiling a Puzzle of Uncharted Origins.”.SA

Image
In a strange and unusual event, fishermen in the United States had an unbelievable experience when they pulled out their nets and discovered a giant lobster weighing up to 1000 pounds. Surprise and suspense quickly spread throughout the fishing community, making everyone curious about the origin of this special lobster and how it could have fallen into their nets. These lucky fishermen were on a normal trip at sea, but when they pulled up their nets, they couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a strange shape emerging from among the tiny lobsters. The giant lobster, weighing about 1,000 pounds, immediately attracted attention not only from fishermen but also from the local community and media. At first sight, the question of the lobster’s strong skin and enormous size makes many people question its origin. Fisheries experts and marine animal researchers were summoned to examine this special lobster and learn about the reason why it appeared in this fis
Read more

National Dream Day (March 11th)

Image
Quick facts When is it? Every March 11th Tagged as Attitudes & Emotions Helping Others Life & Living What's the hashtag? #NationalDreamDay Have we missed something? The modern world is a place where dreams really can come true! Whether the dream is to become a person who Travel s all over the globe, who contributes to the Education of children, who climbs a mountain or who is a great world leader, the idea for National Dream Day is that any of these aspirations and dreams should be pursued with perseverance.  History of National Dream Day National Dream Day was established with the idea that people should be able to pursue their dreams and work to achieve their aspirations. This day is celebrated on the anniversary of the birth of Robert Muller, who was born in Belgium on this day in 1923. While experiencing the pain of World War II in Nazi occupied France as a youth, Muller was a member of the French Resistance and he developed strong convictions
Read more