Amazon is preparing to launch its first internet satellites to compete with Starlink

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.