The Federal Communications Commission approved Amazon’s plans for its ambitious Kuiper constellation, which involves sending 3,236 satellites into orbit to transmit Internet coverage to Earth. The decision is a crucial regulatory step that paves the way for Amazon to start launching the satellites when they’re ready.
The company plans to send the satellites to three different altitudes, and claims it only needs 578 satellites in orbit to start service, according to an FCC document announcing the approval. Amazon said it will invest “more than $ 10 billion” in the Kuiper Project in a blog post.
Amazon has yet to announce which launch provider it plans to use to put the satellites into orbit. While Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the rocket company Blue Origin, the launch provider will have to compete to launch the satellites alongside other companies.
There are a few caveats to Amazon’s FCC approval. The company must launch half of the constellation by 2026 to retain its FCC license, and then the remaining satellites by 2029. Amazon must also present the FCC with a final plan on how it will mitigate orbital debris, as the design of its satellites not available. t finished yet. Amazon says it will take its satellites out of orbit within 355 days, but the FCC argues that the company did not “present specific information on some required elements” for its debris plan. A major concern of a constellation of this size is that the influx of satellites will cause more collisions in space, creating debris that could threaten other satellites.
Amazon is one of the few companies aiming to create a giant constellation of orbiting satellites, to provide broadband connectivity to the surface below. The most notable among these competitors is SpaceX, which has FCC approval to launch nearly 12,000 satellites for its Starlink project. So far, SpaceX has launched more than 500 Starlink satellites, with plans to start beta testing the system this summer. Meanwhile, UK-based OneWeb also hopes to build a constellation of 650 satellites, and has already launched 74 of them. The company filed for bankruptcy this year, but was recently rescued by a consortium that includes the UK government and Indian telecommunications company Bharti Global.
Amazon claims that Kuiper “will provide broadband services to underserved and underserved consumers, businesses in the United States, and global customers through the use of advanced satellite and earth station technologies,” according to the FCC approval document. Amazon also said that the Kuiper Project will provide “backhaul solutions for wireless operators that extend LTE and 5G service to new regions” in their blog post.
Update July 30, 8:57 pm ET: Added new details from an Amazon blog post.
