Amazon The company is preparing to launch its first satellite for the Project Kuiper Internet Network, investing $120 million to build a satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the tech giant announced Friday.
The facility will be built on the Launch and Landing Facility where NASA once landed space shuttle missions. LLF is currently leased and operated by Space Florida, which serves as the state’s space economy development arm.
“We are thrilled to be the first major tenant Amazon finds.” [at the LLF]”But this is a testament to the fact that we see the entire state as the ecosystem that underpins space,” Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello told CNBC.
Project Kuiper is Amazon’s plan to build a network of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to provide high-speed Internet access anywhere in the world. The 100,000-square-foot processing facility will serve as one of the final stages before the satellite reaches orbit, preparing it for launch on a United Launch Alliance and Jeff Bezos’ separately owned Blue Origin rocket.
“Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. We plan to process the first mass-produced satellites through this facility in early 2025,” Steve Meyer, Amazon’s vice president of Kuiper production operations, told CNBC.
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Last year, Amazon announced the industry’s largest corporate rocket deal to launch a satellite. The company has booked 77 of his launches from various companies to deploy satellites fast enough to meet regulatory requirements, including deals that include additional options if needed.
Project Kuiper “ultra-compact” version
Amazon
Amazon hopes to launch its first two Kuiper prototype satellites “within the next few months,” the company said, but that will depend on when the rockets to be mounted on the spacecraft are ready.
Amazon continues to plan to fly a prototype on the first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket, but the launch was recently pushed back to the fourth quarter, Meyer said. Meyer said Amazon “can work with” the new Vulcan schedule, but the company is “exploring all available options to complete the prototype in a timely manner.”
The Kuiper prototype has already changed vehicles once, moving from ABL’s RS1 rocket to the Vulcan.
Amazon says Project Kuiper currently employs more than 1,400 people. The company’s primary Kuiper facilities are located in the cities of Redmond and Kirkland, both near Seattle. Amazon also has offices in San Diego, Austin, Texas, New York City, and Washington, DC.
“We go where the talent is,” Meyer said.