After winning regulatory approval to deploy more than 3,000 low-orbit satellites from the US government, global tech giant Amazon is expected to invest $10 billion for its planned space-based internet delivery system.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper strives to provide satellite-based broadband services in the United States, and later around the world along with connectivity for wireless carriers and 5G networks. The project is one of several systems across the world planned to bring the internet to customers without land-based connections.
Amazon will begin deployment of its 3,236 satellites after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the project. There is still no clear timetable for the project.
Dave Limp Senior V P – Amazon
“We have heard so many stories lately about people who are unable to do their job or complete schoolwork because they don’t have reliable internet at home. There are still too many places where broadband access is unreliable or where it doesn’t exist at all. Kuiper will change that. Our $10 billion investment will create jobs and infrastructure around the United States that will help us close this gap.”
Project Kuiper, which aimed at individual households, as well as schools, hospitals, businesses and other organizations, is expected to deliver high-speed broadband service to places beyond the reach of traditional fiber or wireless networks, including disaster relief.
An Amazon statement said the project also aims to “deliver an affordable customer terminal that will make fast, reliable broadband access to communities around the world.”
Kuiper is one of several projects to deliver the internet from space begun over the past decades. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and British-based OneWeb, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, are working on similar projects.
