A newly published market analysis, reported by GeekWire, shows the total cost of Amazon's Project Kuiper has doubled from the initial estimate of $10bn to $20bn, and could potentially be even higher.
Amazon successfully launched two prototype Kuiper satellites last year and plans to launch over 3,000 satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to provide broadband services. Rival service Starlink from SpaceX has already launched over 6,000 satellites. A feature in the Telegraph (Paywall) examines the competition between SpaceX and Amazon in delivering broadband services from low Earth orbit.
The report indicates that each Kuiper satellite will weigh 600kg, will have a solar array span of 8m, and will cost up to $2m to manufacture. As well as broadband services, Amazon have given hints of an upgrade which would enable Kuiper to eventually provide a GPS alternative for Position, Navigation & Timing (PNT).
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