Venture Kuiper, Amazon’s low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband initiative, is making ready to place its first two satellites into house throughout its “Protoflight” mission. The prototype satellites—KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2—are the primary iterations of greater than 3,200 satellites Venture Kuiper plans to fabricate and deploy over the following six years.
Whereas only one milestone within the growth and check section of the mission, Protoflight is a crucial studying alternative for the group. The sequence of exams will add real-world knowledge from house to years of knowledge collected from lab and area testing, offering further perception into how the end-to-end Venture Kuiper community performs throughout floor and house. Additionally it is an opportunity to trial our mission procedures for satellite tv for pc processing, launch, and mission operations.
“We’ve finished in depth testing right here in our lab and have a excessive diploma of confidence in our satellite tv for pc design, however there’s no substitute for on-orbit testing,” mentioned Rajeev Badyal, Venture Kuiper’s vp of know-how. “That is Amazon’s first time placing satellites into house, and we’re going to be taught an unimaginable quantity no matter how the mission unfolds.”
Testing the community
Photograph by United Launch Alliance
The Kuiper System consists of three key parts: superior LEO broadband satellites; small, reasonably priced customer terminals; and a safe, resilient ground-based communications community. The Protoflight mission will check all three elements, together with the groups and methods that handle them.
To begin, our satellites will journey to house on an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance (ULA) the place ULA will deploy them at an altitude of 311 miles (500 kilometers). From that time, we’ll start testing numerous methods and subsystems on board. For instance, we’ll use telemetry, monitoring, and communications (TT&C) stations to determine first contact with the satellites; deploy photo voltaic arrays to generate energy; and ensure onboard electronics are working nominally inside acceptable energy and temperature ranges.
On the bottom, we’ll check our superior networking {hardware} and software program to refine how they assist the circulation of knowledge by means of the Kuiper System and AWS. Gateway antennas positioned all over the world will observe and talk with the satellites and in addition join the Kuiper System to the web. Because the mission progresses, we’ll check the community from finish to finish, sending knowledge backwards and forwards between the web, our floor gateways, the satellites, and our buyer terminals.
Photograph by United Launch Alliance
On the finish of the mission, we plan to actively deorbit each satellites earlier than they finally dissipate within the Earth’s ambiance—a part of our dedication to house security.
Making ready for satellite tv for pc manufacturing
Amazon engineered the Kuiper System to permit for steady enchancment, giving us the agility to start satellite tv for pc manufacturing in parallel to the Protoflight mission. We are going to apply learnings from the mission to assist refine our {hardware}, software program, and infrastructure. Our first manufacturing satellites are on observe for launch within the first half of 2024, and we count on to be in beta testing with early industrial prospects by the tip of 2024.
“I’m pleased with the complete Venture Kuiper group for getting us so far and grateful for his or her contributions,” mentioned Badyal. “The laborious work that goes into constructing a brand new house system from scratch is super, however this group has devoted themselves to the purpose of delivering reasonably priced broadband to those that want it.”
To be taught extra concerning the launch, comply with ULA on their website and on YouTube. Learn more about Project Kuiper.
