Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s founder Jeff Bezos is expected to launch two satellites today to deliver internet from space, in the latest test to Elon Musk’s dominance in commercial space exploration through SpaceX Starlink.
Two test satellites at Project Kuiper in Florida are expected to launch at 14:00 local time today from the Atlas V workhorse rocket run by United Launch Alliance.
KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 were due to be sent into space by an ABL Space Systems rocket in 2022, but that first launch failed and subsequent lift-off experienced further delays.
Today’s 'protoflight' mission, which has been delayed by a year, will test stream delivering broadband internet from space.
Amazon intends to invest US$10 billion in Project Kuiper, which has employed more than 1,000 people with a goal to send 3,236 satellites into orbit and deploy a number of user internet terminals.
Under Federal Communications Commission regulation, it must have half of those satellites in orbit by the middle of 2026.