Well, well, well. Looks like Amazon’s Project Kuiper is hitting a few speed bumps in its race to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink. A Bloomberg deep dive reveals the tech behemoth’s satellite internet dream is lagging—big time. The main villain in this saga? Ramping up satellite production. (Because, of course, it’s never easy.)
Right now, the Kuiper squad has only managed to spit out a handful of satellites. To give you an idea, SpaceX has already littered the sky with over 7,000 Starlink satellites. Amazon didn’t even start production until the tail end of last year, so they’re not just playing catch-up; they’re in a full-blown sprint.
Beta testing? That only got off the ground earlier this year, and an initial launch slated for April 8 got bumped to April 28. Slow and steady might win the race, but at this rate… Project Kuiper’s grand plan is to beam broadband to 400 million homes and the middle of nowhere, but with over 3,000 satellites needed and a government deadline breathing down their necks (1,600 in orbit by next summer, no pressure), time’s not exactly on their side. Rumor has it, they might be begging the FCC for a little more wiggle room.
An Amazon rep chatted with Seeking Alpha, insisting they’re all set to flip the switch later this year. But with production glitches and launch delays stacking up, you’ve got to ask: really? On the bright side, they did get two prototype satellites up in late 2023 and tested some fancy optical mesh network, so it’s not all tears and tantrums.
Amazon’s got launches lined up with Arianespace, Blue Origin, and—plot twist—SpaceX (because why not cozy up to the competition?), with United Launch Alliance taking the reins for the April 28 launch. As for what’s throwing a wrench in the works, mum’s the word. But you bet we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled and ears to the ground. Stay tuned, because this space race is getting juicy!
