Amazon says Kuiper test satellites 'operating as designed'
Alex Wong
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) said on Monday that the first group of its Project Kuiper internet satellites are operating "as designed" and ready for the next phase of testing.
In a blog post, Amazon said the two satellites, which were launched into space on October 6 aboard an Atlas V rocket, are working as planned, taking their energy from the Sun and communicating across the Earth.
âThe two satellites are stable in orbit, harvesting energy from the sun, and communicating across all links from Earth to space and space to Earth," said Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiperâs vice president of technology, in a statement.
"Weâre already learning a lot from this mission that will inform further improvements to our production systems, and the team should be very proud of this milestone.â
The next phase of the mission will see Amazon (AMZN) test its data network end to end via routing data from the internet through its Amazon Web Services-powered ground network and then to customer terminal antennas.
Amazon explained that it still plans to begin satellite production before the end of the year, with the production satellites slated to launch in the first-half of next year. Beta testing with commercial customers is slated to happen in the second half of next year, the Andy Jassy-led company added.
In 2020, Amazon (AMZN) won FCC approval to build and deploy a $10B network of satellites to provide high-speed Internet service to low-density areas.
Last year, Amazon announced deals with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to provide heavy-lift launch services for Project Kuiper.
The Project Kuiper satellites are likely to only add to the rivalry between former Amazon (AMZN) Chief Executive Jeff Bezos and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, as SpaceX (SPACE) has its own internet satellite service, Starlink.
Amazon (AMZN) shares were up 1.5% in late morning trading on Monday.

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