Amazon unveils satellite receivers for Project Kuiper to compete with SpaceX Starlink

Tech giant, Amazon, has unveiled a trio of satellite receivers as part of the company’s “Project Kuiper” internet service to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper is the company’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network set up to bridge the digital divide by providing fast, affordable broadband to communities unserved or underserved by traditional communications technologies. Project Kuiper will do this through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

According to the company, in its mission to serve tens of millions of customers, it set an ambitious goal at the start of the project to design a customer terminal that costs less than $500 to build. It reported in its blog post that it “hit that milestone in 2020, inventing a new antenna architecture that was smaller and lighter than traditional designs.”

So Amazon unveiled the three satellite receivers which are a result of the continuous innovation to make its terminal designs even smaller, more affordable, and more capable.

• The smallest terminal is a 7-inch square design which weighs 1 pound (450 grams) offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps. This portable satellite receiver will sell for only $100.
• The standard customer terminal measures less than 11 inches square and 1 inch thick, weighing less than five pounds (2,268 grams) without its mounting bracket. It is expected to be one of the most powerful commercially available customer terminals of its size, delivering speeds up to 400 megabits per second (Mbps). Amazon expects to produce these terminals for less than $400 each.
• The last model, which is the biggest, is designed for enterprise, government, and telecommunications applications that require even more bandwidth. It measures 19 inches by 30 inches, and will deliver speeds up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps). The price of this product has not been disclosed.

“Our goal with Project Kuiper is not just to connect unserved and underserved communities, but also to delight them with the quality, reliability, and value of their service,” said Rajeev Badyal, Amazon’s vice president of technology for Project Kuiper. “From day one, every technology and business decision we’ve made has centered on what will deliver the best experience for different customers around the world, and our range of customer terminals reflects those choices.”

Each Project Kuiper receiver will use Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite network. Although these satellites are not yet in production, the initial two prototypes are set to be launched later this year using a Vulcan Centaur rocket from United Launch Alliance.

Project Kuiper expects to launch the first production satellites in the first half of 2024 and customers should start using Project Kuiper by the end of 2024.

In comparison to SpaceX Starlink, both have the same offerings based on the same LEO satellite technology and have similar offerings. However, SpaceX offerings are currently more expensive, starting at $600 for the stationary edition of the Starlink Roam and Residential offerings.

Also Starlink is currently live and available in over 50 countries, including Nigeria. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. SpaceX announced reaching more than one million subscribers in December 2022.

One good thing about competition is that the customer gains and this is expected when Amazon’s Project Kuiper is available to customers by the end of 2024.