Amazon is making significant strides with its Kuiper project at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
A $120 million processing facility is being constructed, spanning 100,000 square feet, to accommodate the thousands of planned Kuiper internet satellites. This project is part of Amazon’s $10 billion investment in creating a network of 3,200 low Earth-orbiting satellites, designed to provide broadband internet globally. The Kuiper internet network is poised to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Starlink and will complement Amazon’s web services.
The facility in Florida will employ 50 staff members and serve as the final destination for Amazon’s Kuiper satellites before they embark on their journey to space. These satellites will be manufactured at the primary plant in Redmond, Washington, and then transported to Florida for processing. Notably, a ten-story-tall room will facilitate the fitting of satellites into rocket payload farings, ensuring their protection during rocket launches.
Amazon has already commenced construction on the site in January and plans to complete it by late 2024. The company targets shipping the initial batch of satellites to the facility for processing in the first half of 2025. Their goal is to launch the first mass-produced satellites by early 2024, with a further aim to have half of the network deployed into orbit by 2026, as per U.S. regulatory requirements.
