Amazon prepares first full launch of satellites

Amazon has announced that its first full batch of Project Kuiper satellites is scheduled to launch into space this month.

Scheduled for April 9th, the mission – named “KA-01” (short for Kuiper Atlas 1) – will see 27 satellites deployed at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometres) above Earth. The launch is slated to take place no earlier than 12pm EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, utilising a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

This milestone marks the beginning of a full-scale deployment for Project Kuiper, Amazon’s venture into satellite broadband. The company aims to provide low-latency internet access to virtually any location on the planet, with initial customer service expected to commence later this year.

The first-generation satellite system will comprise over 3,200 advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Amazon has already secured more than 80 launches to deploy this initial constellation, with each launch contributing dozens of satellites to the network.

“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network,” said Rajeev Badyal, VP of Project Kuiper.

Extensive ground testing has been conducted in preparation for this inaugural mission.

“We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once,” Badyal added.

“No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years.”

The satellites onboard the KA-01 mission represent a major upgrade from the two prototype satellites successfully tested during the Protoflight mission in October 2023. Amazon has focused on enhancing the performance of every system and subsystem, including phased array antennas, processors, solar arrays, propulsion systems, and optical inter-satellite links.

Each of the satellites feature a unique dielectric mirror film coating, specifically developed by Kuiper, to scatter reflected sunlight. This design aims to minimise their visibility to ground-based astronomers, addressing concerns about disruption to astronomical observations.

Project Kuiper’s satellite payload is set to be the heaviest payload ever flown on a ULA Atlas V rocket. To accommodate this, ULA will utilise the Atlas V in its most powerful configuration, featuring five solid rocket boosters in addition to its main booster. The payload fairing, which houses the satellites, is an impressive 77 feet (23.5 metres) high and 16.4 feet (5 metres) wide.

Looking ahead, Kuiper and ULA teams are scheduled to conduct seven more Atlas V launches and 38 launches on ULA’s larger Vulcan Centaur rocket over the next few years. Furthermore, an additional 30-plus launches are planned with other launch providers, including Arianespace, Blue Origin, and even Starlink operator SpaceX.

ULA will oversee the launch and deployment sequence from their Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Once all the satellites have separated from the rocket, the Kuiper team will take over constellation management from their 24/7 mission operations centre in Redmond, Washington.

The primary objective of the KA-01 mission is to safely deploy all 27 satellites into orbit, ensuring they can independently manoeuvre and communicate with the ground team. Following successful separation, the satellites will initiate a series of largely automated steps to activate their onboard systems and utilise their electric propulsion systems to gradually ascend to their designated orbit of 392 miles (630 km). Once in their final position, the satellites will travel at speeds exceeding 17,000 miles per hour (27,359 km per hour,) circling the planet approximately every 90 minutes.

While the orbit-raising process is underway, the Project Kuiper team will focus on achieving their ultimate mission objective: providing end-to-end network connectivity. This involves establishing the complete data pathway from the internet, through their ground infrastructure, up to the satellites, and down to customer terminal antennas, and vice-versa.

Following the KA-01 mission, Amazon plans to accelerate its production, processing, and deployment rates in preparation for the commencement of customer service. The company has already begun shipping and processing satellites for its next mission, KA-02, which will also utilise a ULA Atlas V rocket and launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

ULA’s “Kuiper 1” mission page will provide live updates on the launch, including a launch livestream that will commence approximately 20 minutes prior to liftoff. This will allow interested parties to follow the progress of this potentially historic milestone.

(Image credit: Amazon)

See also: Samsung and KT partner to counter 6G signal quality challenges

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