Major updates for Amazon’s Project Kuiper
November 29, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Amazon’s Project Kuiper proposed satellite broadband system has announced two major updates. It is formally linking with sister business Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud computing service and announced this week at ‘AWS re:Invent 2023’.
The second announcement is a series of strategic partnerships in Japan with Japanese giant telco NTT and its NTT DOCOMO division, as well as SkyPerfect JSAT Corp.
Kuiper says the partnerships are expected to bring advanced, reliable, and far-reaching satellite connectivity options to customers in Japan. The companies expect to use Project Kuiper LEO satellite connectivity services to enhance communications availability and resiliency for Japanese customers, and is the latest in a broader effort by Project Kuiper to work with regional telecommunications operators around the world.
During AWS re:Invent 2023, Amazon provided details about Project Kuiper’s private networking feature, which allows enterprise and public sector customers to securely move data from any Project Kuiper-connected site directly into AWS, without having to go through the public internet
The AWS re:Invent 2023 event heard that Kuiper’s initial satellite test phase is now completed. “With initial testing complete, Project Kuiper is on track to begin mass satellite production. The manufacturing process has already begun, and production will increase ahead of a full-scale deployment beginning in the first half of 2024,” said the company.
Project Kuiper has booked 77 rocket launches to lift its satellites into orbit with three contractors (United Launch Alliance, Arianespace and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket company). By the end of 2024, Project Kuiper says it expects to begin beta testing with early enterprise customers