Amazon gets FCC clearance to launch 3236 Internet satellites

Amazon has taken an important new step towards its own satellite communication network. The company has received approval from the US Telecom Authority to launch more than 3,000 satellites.

Amazon was allowed to launch 3,236 satellites to a low Earth orbit. The constellation is part of Project Kuiper, with which Amazon wants to build its own satellite constellation. They must start broadcasting internet signals. The project is similar to many other projects such as SpaceX ‘Starlink or OneWebs constellation.

The company has now officially received the green light from the Federal Communications Commission in the US. With that, it may continue with the plans. There are conditions to this, writes the FCC. For example, Amazon must have launched half of the satellites by 2026, and the rest by 2029. Amazon must also draw up a plan for how to prevent space debris from the satellites.

At the moment Amazon has shown little of the project. For example, it is not known what the satellites will look like or function. Amazon says it wants to launch 578 satellites before it has enough coverage, but it is not known which rocket will lift the satellites. That could happen with Blue Origin, the company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The orbital New Glenn missile will not be launched until 2021 at the earliest.

Amazon said last year that the satellites will fly at three different heights; 590, 610 and 630 kilometers. The satellites would have a lifespan of between five and seven years and then fall back into the atmosphere by themselves. Amazon says it wants to invest $ 10 billion in Project Kuiper.