MASSIVE: Amazon to provide internet to 95 per cent of Earth’s population using satellites

E-commerce giant Amazon might be able to solve your internet connectivity issue with the help of satellites. After SpaceX and OneWeb, Amazon is now planning to launch more than 3,000 satellites into low Earth orbit to help people who don’t have access to high-speed internet with broadband. Amazon’s plan is dubbed “Project Kuiper,” which is expected to launch satellites up into low Earth orbit at three different altitudes.

According to a filing with the International Telecommunications Union, Amazon will launch 784 satellites at 367 miles, while Amazon will launch 1,296 satellites at 379 miles and the remaining 1,156 satellites will be launched at 391 miles. The International Telecommunications Union oversees global telecom satellite operations. Combined. With the help of these satellites, Amazon should be able to cover 95 per cent of Earth’s total population.

Amazon is yet to reveal whether the company is planning to go about building its own satellites or purchase them from a third party. More details are awaited. But Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who is now getting divorced, owns a space company called ‘Blue Origin.’ Earlier this year, Blue Origin successfully managed to launch as well as land first New Shephard rocket of 2019.

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"Project Kuiper is a new initiative to launch a constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that will provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved communities around the world. This is a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet. We look forward to partnering on this initiative with companies that share this common vision," Amazon told GeekWire.

However, there is one big hurdle that needs to be solved before the e-commerce giant launches more than 3,000 internet satellites. These satellites also require a network of base stations on Earth so that they can communicate successfully with the Earth. However, we are still seeking more information with regards to an approximate timeline of this project at Amazon.

Amazon’s AWS Ground Station cloud computing service was unveiled last year to enable space-to-ground communications.