Amazon Requires Facebook’s Satellite Screen

The race in developing satellite internet includes companies like SpaceX, Amazon, Softbank, and Facebook. However, Facebook is now selling its internet satellite team to Amazon, according to the reports from The Information. For Amazon, it is a considerable step in its effort to develop its mission of Project Kuiper satellite network and catch up along with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband collection.

Just like Starlink, Project Kuiper is intended to provide low-latency, high-speed broadband connectivity to users all around the world. Amazon currently aims to have a 3,236-satellite constellation in its orbit by the year 2029, with half of it being launched by the year 2026.

It is also planning to build up 12 ground stations across the world to send out the data to and from the space satellites. The company has said that it will spend more than $10 billion to make up for all that happens around and has recently received approval from FAA for the project. It had also announced last year that it would use the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket for the initial satellite launches, which is ultra-reliable.

Amazon has a lot ramped up in hiring the efforts for the Project Kuiper at its Redmond headquarters, along with 500 employees currently visiting abroad and 200 open positions. The employees who are coming from Facebook are reportedly based in Los Angeles, and they include physicists as well as optical, prototyping, software, and mechanical engineers. Jin Bains, Facebook’s former head of Southern California connectivity, is now listed as the director of Project Kuiper on his LinkedIn page.