Amazon Confirms Rocket Launch Contracts With Three Companies To Ensure Project Kuiper Can Compete With Starlink

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket will be used to launch Amazon's satellite. (photo: twitter @blueorigin)

JAKARTA - Amazon.com Inc announced Monday that it has secured rocket launches with three companies. The project will cost billions to structure a constellation of satellites to transmit broadband internet that will rival Starlink, from Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The e-commerce giant says its Project Kuiper has secured 83 launches over the next five years and includes a deal with Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon founder and chairman Jeff Bezos.

The race to transmit broadband internet using thousands of satellites in low-earth orbit is heating up. SpaceX is so far ahead of other players in the business. Meanwhile, Project Kuiper plans to launch the first two prototype satellites by the end of the year.

"Amazon is investing billions of dollars in three agreements. Together, these are the largest commercial launch vehicle procurements in history," an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters.

The contract includes 18 launches on Ariane 6 rockets from Arianespace, 12 launches with New Glenn from Blue Origin, with the option to add up to 15 more. There were also 38 launches on Vulcan Centaur rockets made by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co.

Amazon selects Blue Origin’s New Glenn for 12 launches, with options for up to 15 additional launches of Kuiper’s satellite constellation. Learn more: https://t.co/WnSP6N4tgj pic.twitter.com/S8HcANaAnB

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) April 5, 2022

According to the company, together, they will provide the capacity for the company to deploy most of its satellite constellation.

The deal is at stake on the capability of three heavy-lift rockets that have not yet flown and whose development is pending. Arianespace Ariane 6, is still in the development stage. According to Amazon's chief executive, Stéphane Isral, the rocket is believed to be able to launch up to 40 Kuiper satellites in each flight mission.

Also under development, is the New Glenn Blue Origin rocket that will carry 61 Kuiper satellites. The ULA Vulcan rocket will carry 45 satellites. This was also revealed by Amazon CEO Tuesday, March 5 at a press conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Dave Limp, head of Amazon's device unit, said the company still wants diversity in their launch partnership. This includes previously announced deals with ULA and rocket startup, ABL Space.

"This is the largest contract Arianespace has ever signed in its history," ArianeGroup CEO André-Hubert Roussel told Reuters. But he declined to provide financial details for the project. "This is the result of two and a half years of talks with them," he said, adding that the launch would take place between 2024 and 2027.

Project Kuiper aims to use more than 3,000 satellites in low-earth orbit to transmit high-speed, low-latency internet to customers, including households, businesses, and government agencies.

“Securing launch capacity from multiple providers is expected to reduce the risks associated with discontinuing launch vehicles and save costs that can be passed on to customers,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper.

Blue Origin's BE-4 engine, which will power the Vulcan rocket, has been facing a lot of delays so far. So it's only natural that Amazon also looks to other rocket companies to guarantee the certainty of their satellite launch.