Amazon to build its own giant satellite constellation
Capitalism in space: Amazon has officially joined the race to build own giant satellite constellations for providing internet access worldwide.
[They] plan to put 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit — including 784 satellites at an altitude of 367 miles (590 kilometers); 1,296 satellites at a height of 379 miles (610 kilometers); and 1,156 satellites in 391-mile (630-kilometer) orbits.
In response to GeekWire’s inquiries, Amazon confirmed that Kuiper Systems is actually one of its projects. “Project Kuiper is a new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The competition now includes Amazon, SpaceX, OneWeb, and others, each of which will provide a lot of business for the launch industry. All told, more than 15,000 satellites will need to be launched by these companies before the middle of the next decade.
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Capitalism in space: Amazon has officially joined the race to build own giant satellite constellations for providing internet access worldwide.
[They] plan to put 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit — including 784 satellites at an altitude of 367 miles (590 kilometers); 1,296 satellites at a height of 379 miles (610 kilometers); and 1,156 satellites in 391-mile (630-kilometer) orbits.
In response to GeekWire’s inquiries, Amazon confirmed that Kuiper Systems is actually one of its projects. “Project Kuiper is a new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The competition now includes Amazon, SpaceX, OneWeb, and others, each of which will provide a lot of business for the launch industry. All told, more than 15,000 satellites will need to be launched by these companies before the middle of the next decade.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Which brings up the question, who plays traffic cop? I realize that space is unimaginably vast, but there must be certain orbits viewed as better than others, so who says who gets what? And what happens when we have thousands of dead satellites on our hands? Who makes sure that there is the capability and plan to deorbit them safely?
Will SpaceX haul them up for Jeff?
Col Beausabre:
There’s regulation with a focus on constellations in the making.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-02-19/pdf/2019-02230.pdf
Col Beausabre,
Excellent questions. Space News recently pondered similar questions:
https://spacenews.com/op-ed-protecting-low-earth-orbit-from-becoming-the-new-wild-west/
Another good question is the supply chain for the parts, components, and equipment needed for these constellations (megaconstellations?).
https://spacenews.com/ruag-revises-strategy-to-win-constellation-orders/
You noted: “I realize that space is unimaginably vast, but there must be certain orbits viewed as better than others, so who says who gets what?”
An early “best” orbit was geostationary orbit (GEO), especially for communication satellites, as once described by Arthur C. Clark.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060715074807/http://www.clarkefoundation.org/docs/ClarkeWirelessWorldArticle.pdf
In the 1970s, it was realized that the spacefaring nations could grab up all the available slots at GEO and prevent other countries from using slots that could serve them. An international organization now protects and allocates slots. In order to prevent a country or company from hogging good slots, there are drop dead dates for a satellite to be in place, otherwise the slot will become available for another satellite.
India was an early user of GEO slots, when they began to use satellites for remote doctors to use television as a real-time aid in consulting with specialists in city hospitals; seeing a patient on a monitor greatly helped with solving the patient’s problem. India was a major advocate of the regulation of GEO slots.
Edward,
In the case of GEO slots it’s the ITU as the dominant application (communication) is clear. I wonder whether an int’l org could do the same (but for mining, habitats etc.) for other hot real estate. E.g. the Lunar South pole or specific regions on Mars. UNOOSA could theoretically be the right one (but I distrust them). And would we even want it (now, later)? Ideas?
GEOs are lousy for internet. 46,000+ miles add up.