Amazon is building a $120 million processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its thousands of planned Kuiper internet satellites. The 100,000 square-foot building, located at the Launch and Landing Facility, which is managed by the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, Space Florida, will enable Amazon to receive satellite shipments, prepare them for a rocket launch, connect them to custom dispensers from beyond gravity, and integrate the loaded dispensers with the payload fairings that house them before liftoff. The new hub is part of the roughly $10 billion that Amazon has vowed to invest in its Kuiper project, designed to offer broadband satellite internet coverage around the globe. The project, competing against Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet constellation, could revolutionize global internet connectivity and expand Amazon’s web services dominance.
The company is expected to ship its first Kuiper prototype satellites in 2025 and deploy half of the network into orbit by 2026. To achieve that goal, Amazon must secure many heavy-lift rocket launches from aerospace firms such as United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s privately owned rocket company. The Florida center will work with the two companies and other launch providers, such as Arianespace, to process the satellites before they are loaded onto ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets, which are scheduled to fly from nearby pads at Cape Canaveral Space Center.
The Florida facility will also be equipped to handle multiple rocket flights simultaneously, allowing it to process 120 satellites monthly. It will be able to accommodate three rockets at a time, including the Vulcan and New Glenn, which are set to debut in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The launch schedule has been accelerated because Amazon’s committed to getting its Kuiper satellites into orbit before rivals start launching similar constellations.
GeekWire reported on Amazon’s plans to use Kuiper, operated by the wholly-owned subsidiary Kuiper Systems, to deliver satellite broadband internet to underserved areas worldwide. In filings with the Federal Communications Commission, the company cited research showing that 3.8 billion people worldwide lack reliable internet connections and 21.3 million Americans don’t have access to fixed broadband.
The Florida hub is expected to be operational by late 2024, with the first Kuiper satellites to be shipped for processing in early 2025. The satellites will then be deployed into orbit, forming the foundation of Amazon’s ambitious network that aims to rival SpaceX’s Starlink. The success of both projects will have significant implications for the future of internet accessibility and internet connectivity worldwide, so it will be interesting to see how the competition unfolds over the next few years. Follow GeekWire on Twitter and Facebook for the latest in technology, science, and culture. GeekWire is based in Seattle, Washington.
