Amazon plans to launch the first batch of Kuiper internet satellites on April 9. The 27 satellites will be launched into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral.
There are plans to launch 80 such satellites in 2025, and Amazon promises to launch a satellite internet service by the end of the year. Amazon's partners in Project Kuiper include Arianespace, Blue Origin, and even SpaceX.
As a global service, Amazon's space internet will eventually be accessible "to virtually any location on the planet." Users will need antenna terminals to connect to the satellite constellation.
Amazon's first-generation satellite system will eventually consist of more than 3,200 low-Earth orbit satellites, traveling at 17,000 mph (27,300 km/h) at an altitude of about 400 miles (630 km) above Earth. The satellites will circle the planet in about 90 minutes. SpaceX's Starlink constellation currently has more than 7,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, the first of which was launched in 2019.
Incidentally, Amazon's satellites will be coated in a "dielectric mirror film unique to Kuiper" that scatters reflected sunlight. This should help make them less visible to astronomers, the company claims.