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Amazon ordered three Falcon 9 rocket launches from SpaceX to deploy the Kuiper constellation

Shulou Source: shulou.com Published: 2023-12-24 09:49:34 10月02日 Update

CTOnews.com Amazon announced on December 2 that it has signed three Falcon 9 launch contracts with SpaceX to support the deployment of Amazon's low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband network Project Kuiper.

Amazon's Kuiper Project aims to build a constellation of 3236 satellites in low-Earth orbit to provide broadband Internet worldwide and compete with SpaceX's starchain network, which already has about 5000 satellites covering almost the world.

Amazon announced a $10 billion investment in the project in 2019 (CTOnews.com notes: currently about 71.4 billion yuan), and the company will carry several Kuiper satellites on SpaceX's three Falcon 9 rockets starting in mid-2025.

Amazon earlier purchased 77 heavy rockets from Arianespace, Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance (ULA), enough to launch most satellites, while additional launch missions signed with SpaceX provide more capacity to support deployment plans.