Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) will launch its first two prototype satellites for a planned internet-from-space constellation in early 2023, using a new rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture, United Launch Alliance (ULA), the two companies said in a statement on Wednesday.
The prototype satellites will be the first to launch as part of Amazon's Kuiper network, a planned constellation of 3,236 low-Earth orbiting satellites designed to beam broadband internet to remote parts of the world.
Rocket development delays with launch startup ABL Space Systems, which was initially poised to launch the two Amazon satellites by late this year, prompted Amazon to hop aboard ULA's new Vulcan rocket instead as a secondary payload.
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That mission, the debut orbital flight of a new rocket that will compete with launchers from Elon Musk's SpaceX, is now set for the first quarter of 2023.
Amazon has vowed to invest $10 billion in the project, aiming to catch up with SpaceX's fast-growing Starlink network which is already offering internet service to thousands of customers in dozens of countries.
The online retail giant has not said when it plans to launch the first operational satellites. US communications regulators require the company to deploy half its constellation by 2026, Reuters reported.
The company's other contract for at least two launches with the startup ABL is still valid, although Amazon is unsure what satellites it will use those rockets for, a spokesman told the newswire.
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