Kuiper 1 & 2 ready for launch
October 6, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Two prototype Amazon Project Kuiper satellites are due for launch today (october 6th), subject to last-minute weather considerations. Project Kuiper will be a direct challenger to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
The launch will take place from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on an Atlas V rocket with the launch window opening at 2pm Florida time.
The launch has been long-awaited, and it is worth remembering that there are still 3,236 still to be launched and a major question over how the satellite constellation will actually get into orbit.
There are complaints from press and video crews who have been told that they cannot be close observers to the launch. Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell has described the launch as being “even more secretive that [military] launches”.
Additionally, neither the Atlas team of Kuiper themselves have issued detailed launch/mission timings other than the basic launch window opening.
The two prototype satellites were placed atop the Atlas rocket on September 29th.
The dilemma for Project Kuiper is that half of the constellation must be in orbit by July 2026. Kuiper has secured significant launch contracts with the likes of Arianespace, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin/New Glenn launchers for a total pf 83 launchers.
However, Arianespace will not restart launch activity until Q4 2024 at the earliest, and then has other obligations for European science and government satellites. The ULA – itself a joint-venture between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin – depends on corrections to its Vulcan Centaur upper stage.
Jarrett Jones, SVP/New Glenn at Blue Origin, said the company is working towards a first launch of that rocket in 2024 and carrying Kuiper satellites.