On October 6, Amazon will launch test Internet satellites of the Kuiper project into space

On October 6, Amazon will launch two test satellites of the Kuiper project into space. They are called KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 and will be sent aboard an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA), reports The Verge.

The launch of the test vehicles is part of the company’s intentions to provide Internet connectivity even in remote locations. To do this, it wants to create a network of 3,200 satellites in Earth orbit, which will allow it to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The test satellites will be launched from the launch complex at Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida (USA). The Atlas V rocket will launch KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 into low Earth orbit at an altitude of 500 km.

After that, the project team will test the satellites’ connection to Kuiper’s ground network and customer terminals. When the mission is over, the satellites will be de-orbited.

“This is Amazon’s first time putting satellites into space, and we’re going to learn an incredible amount regardless of how the mission unfolds,” the company stated.

Earlier, Amazon was supposed to launch test satellites into space aboard a ULA Vulcan rocket, but later it chose ULA’s Atlas V for this mission.