The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket business would like additional international business and including launch facilities, additional to its existing sites in Texas, Florida and Alabama. Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith, in an interview with the FT, said they were also looking for non-US acquisitions in manufacturing and software in order to scale up its […]
The Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket business has received a ‘special temporary authority’ licence from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the next launch of its New Shepard rocket variant. Blue Origin Texas LLC applied for its licence on March 23rd. The FCC has licenced Blue Origin for “one suborbital flight of the launch system […]
Imagine, you are one of the richest individuals on the planet and you have a broadband-by-satellite scheme (Project Kuiper) that could be highly competitive. But – and there are quite a few ‘buts’ – you don’t have the rockets to get them into space… Indeed, Amazon’s executive chairman Jeff Bezos has poured millions into Blue […]
The Jeff Bezos super-constellation, Project Kuiper, will launch two test prototype satellites in early 2023 using a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket. But the launch is later than expected. Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2 will be the first of a massive commitment from Amazon which calls for 3,236 broadband satellites. The licences for the experimental […]
Viasat of California is in the process of buying London-based Inmarsat for some $7.3 billion (€6.9bn). SpaceX is formally complaining to the FCC and says that Viasat has violated FCC rules and should not be given permission to control another company’s assets. Jeff Bezos’s Kuiper Systems is also complaining to the FCC over the Viasat/Inmarsat […]
Back at the Satellite 2017 show, in front of thousands of delegates, Eutelsat’s then CEO Rodolphe Belmer signed a contract with Jeff Bezos for the very first order for Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Eutelsat and Blue Origin, in a statement at the time, said the rocket would be ready “by the end of the […]
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has contracted with three rocket launch companies to a 5- year launch timetable to place his 3236 ‘Project Kuiper’ satellites into orbit. Kuiper has until July 30th 2026 to launch at least half of its constellation (1618 satellites) to retain its FCC orbital and frequency permissions. The cargo being carried works […]
The news on April 5th that Jeff Bezos had signed unprecedented orders for rocket capacity to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system operational did not go far enough. The announcement also kick-starts a five-year timetable and designed to compete head-to-head with Elon Musk’s Starlink operation which is already in business. Amazon had ordered up a […]
Jeff Bezos has ordered a massive series of rocket launches to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system into space. Amazon has selected Arianespace, its own Blue Origin, as well as the United Launch Alliance for an overall 68 launches, split between the three giant launch providers. The three sets of contracts are by far the […]
The next Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket launch was originally currently scheduled for March 23rd. Following the need for additional ground tests, lift-off is now scheduled for March 29th at 08:30 CDT from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas. It will be the 20th flight for the rocket. The New Shepard version of […]