Amazon plans to launch its first Internet satellite in 2024 to catch up with SpaceX

Beijing, March 15 (Xinhua) in order to improve its competitiveness, Amazon plans to launch its first Internet satellite into space in the first half of 2024 to provide satellite Internet services worldwide.

Amazon said its satellite Internet division's "Kuiper Project" (Project Kuiper) plans to start mass production of satellites by the end of 2023 and launch the first batch of satellites in the first half of next year. To prepare for these launches, Amazon plans to launch two prototype rockets into space in the coming months aboard a rocket from the United launch Alliance.

"We will definitely complete the commercial testing of the satellite by 2024," Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon, said at a conference in Washington. "

Limp, who oversees Amazon's consumer devices, says the company plans to build "three to five" satellites a day to achieve that goal. If it goes on like this, Amazon is expected to launch half as many satellites as the entire network in three years.

Musk's space company, SpaceX, has long been seen by Amazon as a competitor, and SpaceX already has about 4000 satellites in space. Amazon plans to inject more than $1 billion into the project, surpassing its competitors in terms of funding.

Amazon also revealed three different terminals or antennas that will connect the user's Internet to satellites in orbit.

Our "standard customer terminal", the 11-inch square antenna, provides customers with Internet speeds of 400 megabits per second, Amazon said in a statement.

Amazon has not disclosed how it will price Kuiper, but says its customer terminals will cost less than $400 to make. If Amazon sells the terminal at cost, it may be lower than the SpaceX price. SpaceX charges American customers an one-time hardware fee of $599 and a monthly Internet service fee of $120.