3,236 satellites An ambitious attempt to provide global internet access. The constellation is planned as a network of 784 satellites at the lowest altitude (590 kilometres), 1,296 satellites at the next-highest altitude (610 kilometres) and the remaining 1,156 floating at the highest (630 kilometres) orbit above the Earth.
NAME
Kuiper is the name of a belt of objects that include asteroids and dwarf planets. It was named for the late Dutch American astronomer Gerard Kuiper.
EXTENT OF THE MISSION
Known as Project Kuiper, the move represents the latest space ambition from Jeff Bezos. Amazon has previously announced its cloud business will build a network of satellite facilities on Earth and Bezos' space venture Blue Origin continues to move closer to launching space tourists.
OTHER MISSIONS
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched two test satellites for its "Starlink" network last year, the first step toward its goal of a constellation of 4,425 satellites. Additionally, last month Softbank-backed OneWeb launched the first six satellites of its network, which plans to begin with a constellation of 650 interconnected satellites.
WHAT IS THE NEED?
Currently, satellite internet services are plagued with problems of low speeds and high latency, or lag. Hardware on the ground is not just expensive, it's also less efficient and prone to natural phenomena, weather, and wear and tear. Considering the internet is the very fire keeping Amazon warm with online retail, sales, and other services that cost people money. about the ~364 million youth between ages 15 and 24 without internet access in schools and colleges when it was thought up.
WHY AMAZON WANTS TO GET INTO THIS BUSINESS?
If you get everyone access to the internet then you've just doubled your total addressable market for e-commerce, cloud, internet and any other business Amazon wants to do .Additionally, while Blue Origin is technically a separate company, there is little doubt Bezos' rockets will launch most, if not all, of Amazon's satellites.
With Blue Origin less than two years away from the debut of its massive New Glenn rocket, launching hosts of small satellites would help demonstrate Blue Origin's capabilities while also reducing one of the many costs of Amazon's networks.
SATELLITE INTERNET
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communications satellites Companies providing home internet service include ViaSat, through its Exede brand, and EchoStar, through subsidiary HughesNet.
COMPANIES
Companies providing home internet service include ViaSat, through its Exede brand, and EchoStar, through subsidiary HughesNet. OneWeb, a new startup that aims to send thousands of satellites into orbit, in hopes of delivering fiber-optic-fast internet to the remotest parts of the world.
STARLINK
Starlink is a satellite constellation development project underway by American company SpaceX to develop a low-cost, high-performance satellite bus and requisite customer ground transceivers to implement a new space based Internet communication system.
STARLINK PLANS
SpaceX has deployed 62 satellites as of May 2019 and plans to deploy 60 more per launch, at a rate of one launch every two weeks beginning November 2019. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites will be deployed and later possibly up to 42,000 satellites.
THE PLANS
Total cost of Starlink will be around 60 billion dollars As detailed in a 2016 revenue projection obtained by The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX estimated that by 2025 its launch services would be pulling down approximately $5 billion in revenue, which was dwarfed by the projected $30 billion for its Starlink internet services. The company hasn't released any details about the price structure for its internet service or how much ground stations for users will cost. DOES STARLINK POSE A SPACE DEBRIS
THREAT?
We're talking about a constellation that if it ever comes to full fruition would include up to 12,000 members. Several nations have launched almost 9,000 satellites over the past six decades. Of these, about 5,000 are still in orbit. So we are talking about doubling the amount of traffic in space over a couple of years, or over a decade at most, compared to the last 60 years.
THREAT?
We're talking about a constellation that - if it ever comes to full fruition - would include up to 12,000 members. Several nations have launched almost 9,000 satellites over the past six 5000 decades.
Of these, about 5,000 are still in orbit. So we are talking about doubling the amount of traffic in space over a couple of years. or over a decade at most, compared to the last 60 years.
DEBRIS PROBLEM
There are no binding rules currently in place for how long a satellite can safely linger in orbit. The United Nations recommends that satellites be deorbited no more than 25 years after the end of their missions, but these guidelines lack strict penalties for noncompliance.
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