Bezos Finally Ready to Compete With Musk’s Starlink as Amazon’s Kuiper Prepares for Launch

Amazon may be quick to drop off a package at your doorstep, but it has taken years for the company to finally be ready to deliver its satellites to space. The Jeff Bezos-led company is gearing up for the launch of the first batch of its internet satellites to low Earth orbit, hoping for a chance to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is set to launch its first full batch of satellites on Wednesday, April 9, at 12 p.m. ET. The satellites will be tucked inside a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After lift off, the rocket will attempt to deploy all 27 satellites to an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth, according to Amazon. The mission, named “KA-01” for Kuiper Atlas 1, has been a long time in the making and Amazon is eager to enter into the satellite broadband market. That market is currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 7,000 satellit ... Read full article.