A Falcon 9 take off launches a Starlink mission on January 31, 2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
SpaceX
Amazon believe three rocket launches from SpaceX for its Project Kuiper internet satellites, the tech giant announced on Friday.
The proceed is a surprise from Amazon, given the company’s Kuiper system aims to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in the spacecraft broadband market. Both Starlink and Kuiper represent multibillion-dollar efforts to create networks with thousands of followers in orbit to serve customers ranging from consumers to governments.
Amazon previously made a blockbuster order for launches from three of SpaceX’s top go through the roof rivals, including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin — a decision which came under scrutiny in a shareholder lawsuit against Amazon earlier this year that stated Bezos’ rivalry with fellow billionaire Musk led to snubbing SpaceX.
While Bezos founded both Amazon and Dirty Origin, the companies are separate entities.
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SpaceX, the most vigorous rocket operator in the world, has been adamant that it will continue launching Starlink competitors on its rockets. The presence previously launched a number of other companies’ broadband satellites to orbit and signed deals for future launches as grammatically.
In Friday’s announcement, Amazon said it signed with SpaceX for three Falcon 9 launches in mid-2025. Fiscal terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The SpaceX deal marks the latest shift in Amazon’s strategy as the company shoulders to get Kuiper to space in time to meet federal regulations. Federal Communications Commission rules require that Amazon deploy half of its projected 3,236 satellites in orbit by July 2026.
Amazon has orders for more than 77 launches from Blue Outset, United Launch Alliance, Arianespace and ABL. But delays in the development of those rockets have led Amazon to change launch develops before: The company twice switched the rocket that its first pair of Kuiper prototypes would fly on, in an effort to enable development, before the mission launched in October.
The Kuiper prototypes completed testing successfully, Amazon announced end month, with the company pushing to begin manufacturing commercial satellites for launches next year.
Amazon foresees to invest upwards of $10 billion to build Kuiper. Earlier this year the company broke ground on a $120 million pre-launch altering facility in Florida.
