Amazon signs largest rocket deal in commercial aerospace history to build internet satellite constellation

 　　Amazon has signed as many as 83 rocket launches with three aerospace companies to build its Project Kuiper internet satellite constellation, in what is currently the largest rocket deal in the history of the commercial space industry.

　　The three companies are United Launch Alliance, Arianespace and Blue Origin. It’s worth noting that Amazon and Blue Origin were both founded by Jeff Bezos, but the two companies are separate companies.

　　It is understood that United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has signed 38 launch contracts with Amazon.

　　Arianespace and Blue Origin have 18 and 12 launch contracts with Amazon, respectively. Plus, Amazon has the option to have Blue Origin make an additional 15 launches.

　　Amazon's Kuiper program aims to build an interconnected network serving the world in low-Earth orbit, similar to the "Starlink" satellite constellation project SpaceX is building. SpaceX was founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It is worth mentioning that Musk recently surpassed Bezos to the top of the 2022 billionaire list released by Forbes magazine.

　　Amazon hasn’t said exactly when the Kuiper program will begin, but plans to launch two prototype test satellites later in 2022 on rocket maker ABL Space’s RS1 rocket.

　　The FCC approved Amazon's request to deploy 3,236 satellites in 2020 and asked the company to deploy half of its planned satellites within six years. That is, at least 1,618 satellites will be in orbit by July 2026. At the time, Amazon said it would invest more than $10 billion to build its own satellite constellation.

　　Regarding the partnership, Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services, said, "All missions will be rolled out over 5 years, and we still have a lot of work to do, but these partnership agreements reflect our commitment to Project Kuiper and Strong belief."

　　It is understood that United Launch Alliance will use its Vulcan launch vehicle to carry out 38 satellite launches of Amazon, each time the number of satellites will be about 45. In addition, Amazon has purchased nine United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launches for its satellite program in 2021.

　　It is worth noting that United Launch Alliance's Vulcan launch vehicle has not yet performed a formal launch mission, and the first mission is planned for the end of this year. The price of the rocket launch is not known, but the US government has purchased the Vulcan rocket launch for about $112 million per unit.

　　And Arianespace will use its Ariane 6 rocket to carry out 18 Amazon missions, each of which will carry 35 to 40 Kuiper satellites. The company has previously said its launch price is $77 million per launch. It is understood that the Ariane 6 rocket has not yet performed an official mission, and is scheduled to debut in late 2022.

　　Blue Origin will use the New Glenn rocket for the Kuiper satellite mission. Each mission will launch 61 satellites, according to company CEO Bob Smith.

　　It is understood that New Glenn is an orbital-level reusable launch vehicle. Its first stage can be reused at least 25 times, and a 45-ton payload can be sent to low-Earth orbit. However, the New Glenn rocket has not been officially launched, and the first launch may be in 2024.

　　It is worth mentioning that the above rockets for the implementation of the Amazon satellite project are not all reusable. Among them, Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket is a one-time rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket for the Starlink mission does not have much cost advantage, and the Falcon 9 is "the world's first orbital-level reusable rocket."

　　At the same time, SpaceX is also developing a new generation of rocket "starships" that can send humans to the moon, Mars, and even further interstellar space.

　　At present, SpaceX has launched more than 2,000 Starlink satellites, and plans to launch a maximum of 42,000 satellites. According to Musk’s previous statement in March 2022, Starlink satellites have served more than 250,000 users.

　　Amazon and SpaceX have long argued over their respective satellite internet projects. In September 2021, Amazon accused SpaceX of breaking the rules to the FCC, hoping it would reject the launch request of Starlink satellites.

　　Amazon's satellite program has fallen far behind SpaceX, but this time around, its massive rocket purchases could help close that gap. The company also said the Kuiper Satellite Network "will leverage Amazon's global logistics and operational footprint, as well as the infrastructure of Amazon Web Services."

　　In addition, Amazon mentioned that it has "good experience in producing low-cost devices and services such as Echo speakers and Kindles," which could help reduce the price of satellite dishes that customers need.

　　Regarding the mass, power and other information of the Kuiper satellite, Amazon has not disclosed yet, but said: "Our satellite is larger than the satellites in the low-Earth orbit constellation known, so new and larger launch vehicles are needed to reduce costs."

　　It is worth mentioning that in the construction of satellite constellations, in addition to Amazon and SpaceX, there are still a series of "players" in the market.

　　OneWeb, for example, is backed by the British government, which plans to deploy 648 satellites in orbits 1,200 kilometers above Earth, and has launched 428 so far.

　　The European Union also said in February 2022 that it would invest 6 billion euros in satellite constellations.

　　As for the reasons why organizations and companies are vigorously building satellite constellations today, in addition to using them for global military and civilian networks, they can also occupy favorable Earth orbit space and satellite communication frequency bands and other space resources in advance.