Amazon tops 100 satellites after weather-delayed Kuiper launch

Amazon shipped one other batch of internet-beaming satellites into orbit on Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after 4 earlier launch makes an attempt had been interrupted by climate points.

Monday’s launch is the fourth Kuiper mission, and Amazon now has 102 satellites in orbit.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 8:35 a.m. ET. Roughly an hour after launch, SpaceX confirmed all 24 of Amazon’s Kuiper satellites had been efficiently deployed.

The mission was initially scheduled for final Thursday, however SpaceX was forced to scrub the launch, together with three more attempts over the previous few days because of rainfall.

For the second time, Amazon turned to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, its chief competitor within the low-earth orbit satellite tv for pc market, for assist constructing out its constellation.

SpaceX’s Starlink is at present the dominant supplier of low-earth orbit satellite tv for pc web, with a constellation of roughly 8,000 satellites and about 5 million clients worldwide.

Amazon is racing to get extra of its Kuiper satellites into area to satisfy a deadline set by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC requires that Amazon have about 1,600 satellites in orbit by the top of July 2026, with the total 3,236-satellite constellation launched by July 2029.

Amazon has booked as much as 83 launches, together with three rides with SpaceX.

While the corporate continues to be within the early phases of constructing out its constellation, Amazon has already inked deals with governments because it hopes to start business service later this yr.

WATCH: Amazon launches first Kuiper web satellites into area