*

The first batch of a planned 3,236 Kuiper satellites

launches

from Florida

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Mission kicks off race to rival SpaceX's massive Starlink

network

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Amazon ( AMZN ) could launch five more Kuiper missions this year

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - The first 27 satellites

for Amazon's ( AMZN ) Kuiper broadband internet constellation were

launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the

long-delayed deployment of an internet-from-space network that

will rival SpaceX's Starlink.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon ( AMZN ) plans to

send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10 billion

effort unveiled in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for

consumers, businesses and governments - customers that SpaceX

has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

Sitting atop an Atlas V rocket from the Boeing ( BA ) and

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) joint-venture United Launch Alliance,

the batch of 27 satellites was lofted into space at 7 p.m. EDT

pm from the rocket company's launch pad at the Cape Canaveral

Space Force Station. Bad weather scrubbed an initial launch

attempt on April 9.

Kuiper is arguably Amazon's ( AMZN ) biggest bet under way, pitting

it against Starlink as well as global telecommunications

providers like AT&T ( T ) and T-Mobile. The company has

positioned the service as a boon to rural areas where

connectivity is sparse or nonexistent.

The mission to deploy the first operational satellites has

been delayed more than a year - Amazon ( AMZN ) once hoped it could

launch the inaugural batch in early 2024. The company faces a

deadline set by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to

deploy half its constellation, 1,618 satellites, by mid-2026,

but its slower start means Amazon ( AMZN ) is likely to seek an

extension, analysts say.

Hours or possibly days after the launch, Amazon ( AMZN ) is expected

to publicly confirm initial contact with all of the satellites

from its mission operations center in Redmond, Washington. If

all goes as planned, the company said it expects to "begin

delivering service to customers later this year."

ULA could launch up to five more Kuiper missions this year,

ULA CEO Tory Bruno told Reuters in an interview this month.

Amazon ( AMZN ) said in a 2020 FCC filing that it could begin service in

some northern and southern regions at 578 satellites, with

coverage expanding toward Earth's equator as the company

launches more satellites.

The Web services and e-commerce giant's Project Kuiper is an

ambitious foray into space, with a late start in a market

dominated by SpaceX. But Amazon ( AMZN ) executives see the company's

deep consumer product experience and established cloud computing

business that Kuiper will connect with as an edge over Starlink.

Amazon ( AMZN ) launched two prototype satellites in 2023 in tests it

said were successful, before de-orbiting them in 2024. It had

been relatively quiet about the program's development until

announcing its first Kuiper launch plans earlier this month.

'ROOM FOR LOTS OF WINNERS'

Elon Musk's SpaceX, with a unique edge as both a satellite

operator and launch company with its reusable Falcon 9, has put

more than 8,000 Starlink satellites in orbit since 2019, marking

its 250th dedicated Starlink launch on Monday. Its deployment

pace has hastened to at least one Starlink mission per week,

each rocket with roughly two-dozen satellites on board to expand

the network's bandwidth and replace outdated satellites.

That quick pace has helped Musk's company amass more than 5

million internet users across 125 countries, upend the global

satellite communications market and woo military and

intelligence agencies that have sought to use Starlink and its

manufacturing line for sensitive national security programs.

Amazon ( AMZN ) Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos has voiced confidence

that Kuiper can compete with Starlink, telling Reuters in a

January interview "there's insatiable demand" for internet.

"There's room for lots of winners there. I predict Starlink

will continue to be successful, and I predict Kuiper will be

successful as well," he said.

"It will be a primarily commercial system, but there will be

defense uses for these LEO constellations, no doubt," he added,

referring to low-Earth orbit.

Amazon ( AMZN ) in 2023 revealed its Kuiper consumer terminals, an LP

vinyl record-sized antenna that communicates with Kuiper

satellites overhead, as well as a smaller terminal whose size it

compares to its e-book Kindle device. The company expects to

make tens of millions of the devices for under $400 each.

Amazon ( AMZN ) in 2022 booked 83 rocket launches from ULA, France's

Arianespace and Blue Origin, Bezos' space company, snagging the

industry's biggest-ever launch deal as it prepared to begin

Kuiper deployment.