The Federal Communications Commission says Amazon’s 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper constellation is fully cleared for deployment after the company filed an acceptable plan for dealing with the risks of orbital debris.
This week’s order follows up on the conditional approval that the FCC issued in 2020. At the time, the FCC said the plans for Kuiper could proceed, but Amazon had to update its orbital debris mitigation plan to address concerns about collision risks, coordination with other satellite systems, and procedures for satellite disposal.
After a back-and-forth with the Kuiper team and its rivals at SpaceX and Viasat, as well as interested parties at NASA and other federal agencies, the FCC it was satisfied with Amazon’s modifications.
“Our action will allow Kuiper to begin deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world,” the agency said in the order it adopted on Wednesday.
Like SpaceX’s Starlink network, Amazon’s Project Kuiper network is designed to provide broadband internet access via satellites in low Earth orbit to hundreds of millions of people who are currently underserved.
Kuiper is expected to extend the reach of Amazon Web Services and the company’s other online offerings. Last November, for example, AWS and Kuiper said it would take part in a project to upgrade the Pentagon’s military communication systems.
Project Kuiper’s satellites are being developed at a facility in Redmond, Wash., and Amazon is getting a 172,000-square-foot production facility ready in neighboring Kirkland to build thousands of satellites. The first prototypes are due to be sent into low Earth orbit sometime in the next few months as payloads on United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan-Centaur rocket. The rocket’s first stage will be powered by engines from Blue Origin, the Kent, Wash.-based space venture created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Amazon says it plans to spend at least $10 billion on Project Kuiper, including billions of dollars for launches on ULA, Blue Origin and Ariane rockets.
Julie Zoller, the head of global regulatory affairs for Amazon’s Project Kuiper, welcomed this week’s FCC action.
“Space safety is a core tenet for the Kuiper team, and we’re committed to operating safely and responsibly in space,” Zoller said on LinkedIn. “Our orbital debris mitigation plans demonstrate the Kuiper System is designed to meet or exceed all requirements set forth by the FCC. We are pleased that the commission has granted our application and we appreciate the coordination to ensure the industry is prioritizing safety.”
In its modified plan, Amazon said that its satellites would be equipped with propulsive systems capable of adjusting orbits to avoid collisions, and that the trajectories of the satellites and other orbiting objects would be tracked to head off close calls before they happen.
The plan says the satellites will have ample propellant on board to make a safe, controlled re-entry for disposal when necessary. If propellant runs low on a given satellite, it could be taken out of service early for safety’s sake.
In response to questions about the maturity of its satellite design, Amazon said that design is now complete. Amazon’s prototype satellites — KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 — are meant to test the design as well as Kuiper’s ground control and communication system.
Under the terms of the FCC’s conditional order in 2000, Amazon would have to deploy at least half of the authorized 3,236 satellites by 2026. And under the terms of this week’s order, the company would have to provide semi-annual reports about the number of satellites launched and disposal reliability. Amazon would also be required to file a report if the disposal failure rate reaches two per year.
SpaceX had wanted the FCC to require projections from Project Kuiper about future failure rates, as is the case for SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink satellites. But the FCC said such a requirement would be premature.
“As Kuiper has not started deploying or operating its constellation, we find it is not necessary to impose such a condition at this time,” the FCC said.
