Amazon launched its first two satellite prototypes this Friday in a major test mission for the development of its future constellation, called “Kuiper project”that wants to offer internet from space and compete with it Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Atlas V rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 2:06 pm local time (6:06 pm GMT) and was operated by industrial group United Launch Alliance (ULA).

“This is the first time Amazon has placed satellites in space,” Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology at Project Kuiper, said in a statement. Amazon plans to put a constellation of 3,200 satellites into orbit over the next six years.

European project

That same week, shareholders in Europe approved the merger between French satellite operators Eutelsat and Britain’s Oneweb, creating a European giant that will compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink and now Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, in the internet race from space.

This European operation consolidates Eutelsat’s turn into telecommunications, as the market for low-orbit broadband space connectivity, especially useful for serving isolated regions without fiber, is estimated to reach $16 billion by 2030.

International Telecommunications Union

How are satellite transmissions regulated? The UN has the International Telecommunications Unionas the entity responsible for registering satellite fleets and regulating telecommunications at international level between the various administrations and operating companies.

The organization was founded in 1865 and its first area of ​​expertise was the telegraph, but today the ITU covers the entire ICT sector, from digital broadcasting to the Internet, and from mobile technologies to 3D TV. The ITU, an organization in which the public and private sectors have been involved since its inception, is currently so 193 Member States and around 700 private sector entities. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, there are twelve regional and regional offices around the world.

The offer comes from major powers

Several major companies have already emerged in the sector, such as Amazon’s satellite constellation or the Starlink mastodon led by Elon Musk, who took the lead by establishing itself as one of the most important global satellite internet providers, with more than two million customers.

Starlink has already put about 3,600 satellites into orbit and is cleared to deploy 7,500 of the 30,000 second-generation satellites in its constellation. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, hopes to deploy more than 3,200 satellites for his Kuiper constellation.

In addition to the American projects China betting on the constellation of 13,000 Guowang satellites, and the European Union In November 2022, it made official the launch of its own constellation, Iris, to guarantee internet and communications throughout its territory from 2027.

The Traditional space Internet services pass by satellites in geostationary orbit, at an altitude of more than 35,000 km, a distance that generates a delay of more than 0.2 seconds in connections. somewhat exaggerated for applications such as autonomous vehicles or even online video games.

Future satellites, such as those of sterlink, They evolve in low Earth orbit, that is, at an altitude of a few hundred kilometers, and allow faster communications.

The new constellations now provide access to the internet in the middle of the sea, in the air, in the desert or in conflict areas. (JO)