BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – The race to build up satellite internet constellations is getting several future deliveries from Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.

The tech giant announced on Tuesday that it had secured launch contracts for up to 83 missions to send a majority of its 3,236 satellites to low Earth orbit to form the Project Kuiper internet constellation. 


What You Need To Know

  • Amazon announced what it claims is the largest single launch procurement in history

  •  The move will reportedly create hundreds of jobs across the U.S., including in Florida, Alabama and Colorado

  •  The first launch of the Project Kuiper satellites will happen from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station later in 202

United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Blue Origin were awarded the contracts, along with France-based Arianespace.

The missions underscore Amazon’s confidence in three upcoming rockets, which will make their debuts in 2022 and 2023. Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rocket is slated its first launch in the second quarter of 2022, ULA is aiming to launch its Vulcan Centaur rocket in late 2022 and Blue Origin confirmed to Spectrum News last month that its New Glenn will now debut in 2023, instead of later this year as planned. 

Both New Glenn and Vulcan will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force station at Launch Complex 36 and Space Launch Complex 41, respectively. Ariane 6 launches from French Guiana. 

Here’s the breakdown for the Project Kuiper launches as announced on Tuesday:

This development was announced amid the Space Foundation’s 37th Annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was a big talker at the event, given its affects not only across the U.S., but also in Europe. 

“This is a big development that we’ve been hoping for, for quite some time. It’s certainly going to bring a lot of new launches to the Cape using new vehicles and really establishes an anchor tenant, if you will, for new programs: New Glenn and the new Vulcan rocket,” said Dale Ketcham, the vice president of government and external relations at Space Florida.

More satellites, more jobs

News of the Project Kuiper launch purchase also came with a promise of both infrastructure and human investments at Amazon and for the launch providers. 

A spokesperson for ULA told Spectrum News on Tuesday that the company is “adding hundreds of jobs across Florida, Alabama and Colorado. The new work is tremendous for the industrial base and supports over 2,200 suppliers across 47 states.”

Amazon also stated in its announcement that agreements it signed would support “thousands of suppliers and highly skilled jobs in 49 states across the United States and 13 countries in Europe.”

Ketcham said that while the investment in satellite internet operations and launches from the Space Coast are most welcome, the challenge it presents is creating enough workeramidwho can fill those jobs.

He spoke with Spectrum News virtually from the Space Symposium and noted that finding qualified workers is a challenge experienced across the space industry and was a reoccurring them in the first two days of the conference.

“Space Florida will see to it that the equipment and facilities can be had to grow this industry, but at the end of the day, it’s a great problem to have. It’s just one we’re going to need to address,” Ketcham said. 

He noted that educational institutions, like Florida Tech and the University of Central Florida, are great places to find talent, but notes that there needs to be an increase of prospective workers coming from colleges and other avenues. 

Students already in the pipeline said they are excited about all the activity in the space industry. Spectrum News caught up with one of the clubs at UCF, Knights Experimental Rocketry, as they were working on a carbon fiber body for a rocket they are designing. 

They’re aiming to compete in the Friends of Amateur Rocketry Mars Launch Contest in early June. 

Vehicle Design Director and UCF sophomore Gabriel Shamam said the work they’re doing is already opening doors for them in the industry.

“KXR is one of the best clubs out there to get experience and prepare yourself for the industry,” Shamam said. “I got my first job because of the amount of work that I’ve done on projects, this project being one of them. So, yeah, it’s a super cool experience.”

Students like freshman Brad Potier said seeing the resurgence of the space industry over the last several years was a big inspiration for them to pursue engineering as a career.

“It’s very vibrant right now because of obviously Artemis, the new satellites, all these new companies that are making reusable rockets, it interested me in high school,” Potier said. “And then SpaceX launched Bob and Doug, which was the first human spaceflight in a decade. So, that basically let me know that human spaceflight in the U.S. is happening now and I can join into that.”

New launch infrastructure on the Space Coast

Project Kuiper will have a big impact on ULA’s footprint at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Amazon noted in its announcement that ULA committed to creating “a new, dedicated version of the Vulcan Launch Platform.” Additionally, ULA would be making new investment in its Spaceflight Processing and Operations Center for “as second ULA facility capable of full vehicle processing, with two parallel ‘launch lanes’ for high-cadence operations.”

ULA confirmed to Spectrum News on Tuesday that some of these infrastructure improvements “started very recently.”

The company’s CEO Tory Bruno also took to Twitter Tuesday night to confirm the company’s investments in both infrastructure and new hires. Bruno also confirmed that Vulcan Centaur will fly in its most powerful configuration to support Project Kuiper launches. 

 

The first satellites for the Project Kuiper constellation will be prototypes (KuperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2) and will also be launched from the CCSFS through ABL Space Systems’ new RS1 rocket by the fourth quarter of 2022. 

Amazon will join SpaceX and OneWeb in launching satellites for their internet constellations from the Space Coast. Ketcham said even though they all have a somewhat different approach, it’s good that there are multiple providers getting into the marketplace.

“Having them all be successful at the Cape is a win for Florida and it will be a win for humanity because this is going to provide capabilities that we now don’t have to those that are used to having broadband and to the billions of people around the planet who don’t now have access to the internet.”