Rendering of a United Launch Alliance’ Atlas V rocket carrying Amazon satellites.
ULA/Amazon
Amazon stated on Thursday it’ll open a brand new plant in a Seattle suburb to construct satellites for Project Kuiper.
Project Kuiper, unveiled in 2019, is Amazon’s plan to construct a community of three,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to offer high-speed broadband web. Amazon notched a key milestone in 2020 when the Federal Communications Commission licensed the satellite tv for pc web system.
In order to satisfy its goal of getting 3,000-plus satellites into orbit, Amazon might want to construct one to a few satellites “every single day, maybe even a little more than that,” Amazon gadgets chief Dave Limp stated in an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday.
“We have to build the manufacturing capabilities that looks more like consumer electronics or automobiles and less like the traditional space industry,” Limp stated.
Although Amazon has not stated when the Kuiper launch marketing campaign will start, FCC guidelines require the corporate to deploy half of its deliberate satellites inside six years – that means about 1,600 in orbit by July 2026.
Amazon has stated it plans to speculate greater than $10 billion into constructing Project Kuiper, and it already has a 219,000-square-foot analysis and growth facility primarily based in Redmond, Washington. The Redmond website has developed prototypes and assisted with industrial satellite tv for pc manufacturing, “but to deliver on our vision for the project, we need to operate on a much larger scale,” Amazon stated.
The new 172,000-square-foot manufacturing unit might be situated within the close by metropolis of Kirkland, Washington. It’s anticipated to create greater than 200 jobs within the Puget Sound area, the corporate stated.
The further plant capability will allow Amazon to enter the second part of its manufacturing course of, Limp stated.
Since receiving FCC approval, Amazon has ramped up work on its first two prototype satellites, referred to as KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2.
Amazon stated in Nov. 2021 that it hoped to launch these prototypes with ABL Space on its RS1 rocket in late 2022. But earlier this month, Amazon stated United Launch Alliance would carry the satellites on their debut flight, delaying the launch to early subsequent yr.
Limp stated Thursday that Amazon has began integration and remaining meeting of its first two prototype satellites, including they “should be done by the end of Q4.”
WATCH: How Amazon’s Project Kuiper is taking over SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc web
Source: www.cnbc.com”