A network of 3,236 satellites aimed to provide high speed broadband internet services to people who have lack of access to speedy internet services all across the world will be build by Amazon.com Inc, and for that purpose an investment of more than $10 billion will be made by it, the company said on earlier this week. .
The company mad this announcement after the approval of the plan by the United States Federal Communications Commission. The approval is for a plan that is called "Project Kuiper" that includes building of a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that is expected to rival the Starlink network that is being constructed by Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX.
This announcement was also made at a time when the company reported its highest profit in its 26 year old history.
"A project of this scale requires significant effort and resources, and, due to the nature of LEO constellations, it is not the kind of initiative that can start small. You have to commit," the company said in a blog post.
Amazon said that wireless carriers that are deploying 5G and other wireless service in the regions will also be benefited by the project.
The closest rival of Amazon’s project, SpaceX, has already sent into orbit more than 500 satellites out off the approximately 12,000 such satellites expected to be needed for its Starlink constellation. These satellites will orbit in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has plans of offering broadband service in the United States and Canada by the end of the current year. SpaceX’s project was approved by the FCC in 2018.
The cost of the Starlink constellation will be about $10 billion, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has said. Back in February, Shotwell had talked about the idea of spinning off Starlink to launch an IPO in the coming years.
Even though launching and deployment of satellites is extremely costly, a constellation of such satellites has the ability of providing high-speed internet to people who reside in rural areas or places where it is difficult to deploy optical fiber cables or to set up high performance cell towers. The satellite based internet technology will also be crucial to avoid disturbance of internet even in hurricanes or other natural disasters that have the capacity to disrupt communication.
According to the authorization granted to Amazon’s project by the FCC, the e-commerce giant will be mandated to launch half of its satellites no later than the middle of 2026 and complete the rest of the satellite constellation by within the following three years.
Once is completes launch of 578 satellites, it will begin to offer broadband service, Amazon said.
According to its website, the company had 110 open positions for its "Project Kuiper". The company will be designing and testing the satellites at a new research and development center that it to opened shortly by it in Redmond, Washington, Amazon said.
(Source:www.channelnewsasia.com)
The company mad this announcement after the approval of the plan by the United States Federal Communications Commission. The approval is for a plan that is called "Project Kuiper" that includes building of a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that is expected to rival the Starlink network that is being constructed by Elon Musk's space exploration company SpaceX.
This announcement was also made at a time when the company reported its highest profit in its 26 year old history.
"A project of this scale requires significant effort and resources, and, due to the nature of LEO constellations, it is not the kind of initiative that can start small. You have to commit," the company said in a blog post.
Amazon said that wireless carriers that are deploying 5G and other wireless service in the regions will also be benefited by the project.
The closest rival of Amazon’s project, SpaceX, has already sent into orbit more than 500 satellites out off the approximately 12,000 such satellites expected to be needed for its Starlink constellation. These satellites will orbit in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has plans of offering broadband service in the United States and Canada by the end of the current year. SpaceX’s project was approved by the FCC in 2018.
The cost of the Starlink constellation will be about $10 billion, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has said. Back in February, Shotwell had talked about the idea of spinning off Starlink to launch an IPO in the coming years.
Even though launching and deployment of satellites is extremely costly, a constellation of such satellites has the ability of providing high-speed internet to people who reside in rural areas or places where it is difficult to deploy optical fiber cables or to set up high performance cell towers. The satellite based internet technology will also be crucial to avoid disturbance of internet even in hurricanes or other natural disasters that have the capacity to disrupt communication.
According to the authorization granted to Amazon’s project by the FCC, the e-commerce giant will be mandated to launch half of its satellites no later than the middle of 2026 and complete the rest of the satellite constellation by within the following three years.
Once is completes launch of 578 satellites, it will begin to offer broadband service, Amazon said.
According to its website, the company had 110 open positions for its "Project Kuiper". The company will be designing and testing the satellites at a new research and development center that it to opened shortly by it in Redmond, Washington, Amazon said.
(Source:www.channelnewsasia.com)
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