Amazon has permission from the Federal Communications Commission to move ahead with launching a geostationary satellite constellation of more than 3,200 satellites, to provide fixed and mobile broadband services in the continental U.S. and other global locations.
Dubbed Kuiper, the satellites will operate in portions of the spectrum at 17 GHz, 18 GHz, 19-20 GHz, 27-28 GHz, 28-29 GHz and up to 30 GHz.
According to the FCC order, Amazon plans to “deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband services by operating 3,236 satellites in 98 orbital planes at altitudes of 590 km, 610 km, and 630 km. Kuiper states that its system, which will also include gateway earth stations, customer terminals, “software-defined network” and satellite control functionality, satellite operations centers, telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) earth stations, and other technologies, will be capable of providing continuous coverage to customers within approximately 56°N and 56°S latitude, thereby serving the contiguous United States, Hawaii, U.S. territories, and other world regions.” The system would be deployed in five phases, with service to begin after the first 578 satellites are launched. The FCC authorization says that Amazon has to have half of its planned satellites up and operating by July 30, 2026, and the full constellation in service by July 30, 2029.
Kuiper told the FCC that Amazon “has the global terrestrial network and computing infrastructure necessary to support the Kuiper system and that the system is designed to share spectrum with other [non-geostationary satellite operators fixed satellite services].”
In related news, high-altitude platform system company and Softbank subsidiary HAPSMobile continues to move forward with development on its stratosphere-based drones for connectivity services. HAPSMobile said last week that it completed a fourth successful test flight of its solar-powered Sunglider HAPS and is now moving forward with plans for stratospheric test flights.
The recent Sunglider test flight took place on July 23 at Spaceport America in New Mexico, and the company plans to conduct its stratospheric tests at the same location (the company also has a test site on the Hawaiian island of Lanai) . HAPSMobile reported that the unmanned aerial system “reached altitudes higher than those of previous flights and maintained high altitudes for a long duration” and that it “successfully passed all test points, including flight speed changes, steep turns, automated flight control in the event of interrupted communications with the Ground Control System, and in-flight balance control.”
HAPSMobile also announced last week that it plans to conduct demonstration flights in Rwanda, after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s Ministry of ICT and Innovation (MINICT) for a joint research project focused on bringing 4G/5G-based internet connectivity to the African country. The results of the project “will be used to guide discussions between HAPSMobile and MINICT on potential commercial services in Rwanda and other African countries,” according to a release.
