Amazon is getting its personal supply fulfilled this Friday, including to an intensive portfolio that features its on-line market, streaming video, grocery and cloud providers, with the launch of two prototype relay stations for a space-based web service it calls Undertaking Kuiper.
The satellites, dubbed KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, are set to launch on Friday, Oct. 6 throughout a two-hour launch window that opens at 2 p.m. EDT (1600 UTC). They’re hitching a experience to low Earth orbit atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket.
This would be the twentieth ULA launch for a non-government, industrial buyer. It’s additionally the 99th launch of an Atlas 5 rocket so far and the eighth launch within the 501 configuration, which doesn’t use side-mounted stable rocket boosters.
The rocket rollout out to the launch pad at Area Launch Complicated 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station Thursday morning.
ULA mentioned in a Sept. 29 blog post that about 18 minutes after liftoff, the pair of satellites will likely be deployed at an altitude of 311 miles, or 500 kilometers above the Earth’s floor, at an inclination of 30 levels. On the request of Amazon, ULA won’t present stay protection after the Centaur higher stage separates from the primary stage.
The prototype duo won’t turn into a long-term a part of the constellation of greater than 3,200 satellites Amazon plans to deployed over six years, beginning within the first half of 2024. The corporate mentioned the check satellites will likely be commanded to de-orbited “on the finish of the mission,” which is anticipated to final one yr.
Throughout that point, Amazon will work on producing its full-production satellites whereas it learns from the demonstration variations.
“We’ve completed intensive testing right here in our lab and have a excessive diploma of confidence in our satellite tv for pc design, however there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing,” mentioned Rajeev Badyal, Undertaking Kuiper’s vp of know-how, in a press release. “That is Amazon’s first time placing satellites into area, and we’re going to study an unbelievable quantity no matter how the mission unfolds.”
Amazon said that they made an preliminary funding of $10 billion for Undertaking Kuiper. Latest investments embrace their $120 million satellite tv for pc processing facility that’s being constructed on property leased by Area Florida at NASA’s Kennedy Area Middle and a brand new, 172,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kirkland, Washington, which Amazon mentioned will allow the manufacturing of 5 satellites per day.
Undertaking Kuiper constellation
Amazon’s foray into the satellite tv for pc web recreation places it in direct competitors with different massive satellite tv for pc constellations, like SpaceX’s Starlink service and the newly mixed forces of Eutelsat and OneWeb, now collectively referred to as “Eutelsat Group.”
The Federal Communications Fee (FCC) granted approval for Amazon to deploy and function its Ka-band, non-geostationary satellite tv for pc orbit (NGSO) constellation (Kuiper-Ka System) which is able to consist of three,232 satellites. Their preliminary request was for 3,236, however Amazon requested to cut back that quantity in a Feb. 28, 2023 filing.
In line with a 2019 FCC submitting, the satellites will function in 98 orbital planes at altitudes of 590 km, 610 km and 630 km. The Kuiper System will use frequency bands from 17.7-19.3 GHz for buyer hyperlinks and 19.3-20.2 GHz together with 27.5-28.35 GHz for its gateway Earth stations.
The FCC restricted operations within the 17.7-17.8 GHz band to outdoors the U.S.
With its initially proposed 3,236 satellites, Amazon intends to make use of the next altitudes and inclinations:
Amazon famous in that submitting, that customer support would start following the deployment of the primary 578 operational satellites, dubbed “Part 1,” which is able to head to an altitude of 630 km with an inclination of 51.9 levels.
“Protection begins at 56 levels North and 56 levels South latitudes and rapidly expands towards the equator as extra satellites are launched,” Amazon mentioned in its submitting. There are 5 deliberate phases on this preliminary assortment of satellites.
The corporate mentioned it anticipated to be in beta testing with early industrial clients by the top of 2024.
In an FCC submitting approving of Kuiper Methods LLC’s orbital particles mitigation plan, the company said that Kuiper has to offer semi-annual studies by January 1 and July 1 every year describing issues just like the variety of conjunction occasions throughout every six-month interval (how usually a Kuiper satellite tv for pc come shut to a different on-orbit object); how usually and why satellites had been faraway from operation; and disposal failures.
Kuiper additionally must submit annual studies to the FCC relating to cooperation with the Nationwide Area Basis (NSF) on its efforts to mitigate impacts to optical astronomy.
Amazon can be mandated to launch 50 % of the proposed most satellites and have them in operation no later than July 30, 2026, with the remaining satellites launched and operational by July 20, 2029.
To take action, Amazon contracted 77 launches, with as many as 92 launches, between Arianespace, Blue Origin and ULA:
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- 18 Ariane 6 launches (Arianespace)
- 12 New Glenn launches, with choices for 15 extra (Blue Origin)
- 9 Atlas 5 launches (ULA)
- 38 Vulcan launches (ULA)
A lot stays a thriller
A lot surrounding the Undertaking Kuiper satellites stays a thriller. The corporate has not disclosed primary specs, just like the satellites’ dimensions, nor has it revealed pictures or renderings of the spacecraft themselves.
It did verify that the 2 prototype satellites launching on Friday had been manufactured at Amazon’s 219,000-square-foot facility in Redmond, Washington.
Within the run-up to launch, Amazon shared a photograph of the satellites’ delivery containers that includes gag warning labels studying “Hazard Velociraptor Containment: Carnivore handlers solely inside 50 ft.” One of many crates additionally featured stickers of claw marks.
Nevertheless, regulatory filings do assist fill in a few of the blanks.
Concerning propulsion, Amazon beforehand famous that every Undertaking Kuiper satellite tv for pc makes use of a Corridor-effect thruster, a kind of ion engine by which propellant is accelerated by {an electrical} area. A 2021 FCC filing from Amazon said that the propellant is Krypton, one of many noble gasses.
That very same submitting said that the launch of KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 will likely be “instantly injecting each satellites into the 590 km altitude at 33-degree inclination” with an orbital interval of 96.5 minutes. This info differs from the 30-degree inclination ULA has said.
The prototype satellites will talk with a gateway Earth station antenna positioned in McCulloch County, Texas, which is about 150 miles northwest of San Antonio. Amazon revealed a visible illustration of its deliberate testing sequence:
Every of the 2 prototype satellites embrace a collection of antennas and receivers:
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- 3 telemetry, monitoring and management (TT&C)
- 2 World Navigation Satellite tv for pc System receivers (space-to-space navigation)
- L-band transmitters (relaying place to satellites in Globalstar’s NGSO Cell-Satellite tv for pc Companies constellation)
- 3 phased array antennas for buyer terminal hyperlinks (2 for transmit, 1 for receiving communications)
- 3 parabolic antennas to speak with the gateway Earth stations
Amazon can even be testing buyer terminals as a part of this mission. The tech large mentioned it could “carry out a propulsive de-orbit on the finish of the mission, leading to anticipated demise inside one yr.” If that proves unsuccessful, Amazon mentioned a passive de-orbit would happen inside roughly 3.5 years.
Amazon mentioned as soon as the service is out there, it should enable supply of “quick, reasonably priced broadband from area,” however to date has not disclosed the price of the service.
Eying future enlargement
Because it prepares for its first on-orbit satellite tv for pc demonstration, Amazon is already pushing for future, additional enlargement.
In a Nov. 2021 FCC filing, Amazon is requesting approval for its second-generation constellation utilizing V- and Ku-band frequencies dubbed “the Kuiper-V System.”
The proposal notes it could include “7,774 satellites in 5 altitude and inclination combos between 590 and 650 km, together with two polar shells.”
The corporate argues that increasing its satellite tv for pc web service pole-to-pole would assist tackle the FCC’s objective of closing the digital divide.
“Amazon’s buyer obsession and dedication to long-term initiatives make it uniquely well-positioned to assist broaden broadband entry to tens of tens of millions of worldwide clients who don’t at the moment have high quality connectivity,” Amazon mentioned within the submitting.
The primary 3,236 satellites within the Kuiper-V System would complement the Kuiper-Ka System satellites with V-band payloads.
To this point, the FCC has not made a willpower relating to the Kuiper-V System enlargement request.
