Amazon launches 1st internet satellites with success

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Amazon launched its first internet satellites with success Friday.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the state of Florida at 2.06 p.m. EDT.

The company's Project Kuiper aims to provide fast and affordable broadband internet around the world by building a network of 3,236 satellites in low orbit. The satellites will be linked to a global network of antennas, fiber and internet connection points on the ground.

"This is Amazon’s first time putting satellites into space, and we’re going to learn an incredible amount regardless of how the mission unfolds," Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiper’s vice president of technology, said Tuesday in a statement

"We’ve done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing," he added.

The US-based e-commerce and tech firm plans to invest $10 billion in Project Kuiper, and has booked 77 commercial launches with Arianespace, ULA and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

Project Kuiper will compete with billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink service, which is a satellite constellation operated by SpaceX that provides internet coverage in more than 60 countries with 4,500 mass-produced small satellites. It has 2 million active customers.