Amazon will launch its first two prototypes of a series of satellites into space in early 2023 using a new rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed United Launch Alliance joint venture, the companies said Wednesday.
Delays in rocket development with startup ABL Space Systems, which was initially set to launch both Amazon satellites later this year, prompted the retail giant to board ULA’s new Vulcan rocket as a secondary load.
That mission, the maiden orbital flight of a new rocket that will compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX launchers, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023.
The satellite prototypes will be the first to be launched as part of Amazon’s Kuiper network, a constellation of 3,236 low-orbiting satellites designed to transmit broadband internet to remote parts of the world.
The company has pledged to invest $10 billion in the project, aiming to keep up with SpaceX’s growing Starlink network, which already offers internet service to thousands of customers in dozens of countries.
Amazon’s move to ULA’s Vulcan rocket will be a test run by the partner ahead of the 38 future Vulcan launches it purchased from the launch company in 2021 to help deploy most of its satellites.
Amazon did not say when it plans to launch the first operational satellites.
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