Who said that only NASA, ESA, and SpaceX are capable of sending satellites on the Earth’s orbit? As some scientists are already concerned about Elon Musk’s plan to send 25,000 satellites into orbit for providing internet access across various regions from Earth, another company wants something similar.
It’s time for Amazon to enter the scene along with its Project Kuiper. The plan of the company was approved by the Federal Communications Commission, which means that the Kuiper constellation is looming.
3,236 more satellites
This is the number of satellites Amazon wants to float on the Earth’s orbit. The satellites are proof of Amazon’s endeavor to provide internet to every person living in the United States.
Amazon explained within a blog post the importance of their plan:
This investment will create jobs and infrastructure around the United States, build and scale our ground network, accelerate satellite testing and manufacturing, and let us deliver an affordable customer terminal that will make fast, reliable broadband accessible to communities around the world,
The Vera Rubin Observatory issued a statement where the scientists are concerned that too many satellites placed on the Earth’s orbit would jeopardize the efficiency of future space explorations:
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory science community is concerned about the increasing deployment of communications satellite constellations which, if unchecked, could jeopardize the discoveries anticipated from Rubin Observatory when science operations begin in 2022,
However, not all scientists are so pessimistic. Many of them still consider that the sky is too huge for the astronomers to not be able to observe it in pretty much all its glory. Furthermore, the satellites will revolve around the Earth, which means that they’ll constantly change positions.
There are no launch dates announced for the Kuiper Project yet, but we’ll soon get new info for that matter. The project will cost Amazon a staggering amount of $10 billion.
