Amazon Launches First Satellites for Kuiper Space Internet System
- Project Kuiper plans 3,326 satellites for broadband service
- Lifted by ULA’s Atlas V rocket after a year of delays
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carries Amazon's Project Kuiper Protoflight mission at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Photographer: Jeff Spotts/United Launch AllianceThis article is for subscribers only.
Amazon.com Inc. has launched and started communicating with its first two satellites for its Project Kuiper, the tech giant’s initiative to build a massive constellation of satellites that can provide internet coverage to Earth.
An Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance LLC, lofted the pair of satellites en route to orbit from Florida at 2:06 p.m. local time Friday. The company said late Friday in a blog post that it made first contact with the satellites a little less than an hour later.