Amazon launches its first networked satellite prototype at the end of next year, nearly four years behind SpaceX
2021-11-02
On November 2, Kuiper systems, a satellite subsidiary of Amazon, confirmed that it would launch two prototype satellites by the end of 2022, which is the first attempt of its plan to invest US $10 billion to build a space satellite Internet plan in low earth orbit. But compared with SpaceX, Amazon's action is nearly four years late. Kuiper systems posted a blog post saying, "we have reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Submitted an application for experimental license to launch, deploy and operate two prototype satellites for project Kuiper. These actions are crucial to enable us to test the design and networking technology used on our final satellite and help us verify the launch operation and task management procedures that will be used when deploying the entire network. " Kuiper systems also said that kuipersat-1 and kuipersat-2 will be launched on the RS1 rocket manufactured by ABL space systems in the fourth quarter of 2022. Dan Piemont, the founder and President of ABL, said in an email that the company plans to conduct its first RS1 test flight before the end of the year. Rajeev badyal, vice president for technology of project Kuiper, said: "All systems have been well tested in simulation and laboratory environments, and we can soon see their performance in space. On orbit testing is very important. Considering the complexity and risks of operating in such a challenging environment, we expect to learn a lot. We can't wait to start." Amazon described some details of how the satellite communicates with the user terminal in the document submitted to the FCC: "Kuiper systems' satellites will be equipped with three phased array antennas for the customer terminal link, two for transmitting data and one for receiving data. Each phased array antenna will generate an independent steerable beam to track the customer terminal throughout the satellite transmission process. These satellites will transmit multiple 100MHz wide carriers in the 17.8 to 18.6ghz frequency band The 28.6 to 29.1ghz band receives transmissions from the customer terminal. When the satellite is located above the minimum elevation of the customer terminal ground station of 35 degrees, the satellite customer terminal beam will be enabled. " Amazon has previously said that it expects to launch the prototype satellite as early as 2023. The launch of the prototype satellite next year will not change the schedule of its mass production satellite. Generally, it may not officially launch the mass production satellite until the test version of the satellite runs for a year or more. SpaceX launched two test satellites for the star chain system in February 2018 and the first batch of 60 mass production satellites in May 2019. The company began public testing of the star chain Internet in October 2020, and the service has just exited the testing program in the past few days. If Amazon follows a similar schedule, its first batch of mass-produced satellites will be launched in late 2023 or early 2024 and will be put into practical use in 2025. In a document submitted to the FCC, Amazon said it was designing and testing satellite systems at a new facility in Redmond, Washington. The company has more than 750 employees working at Kuiper systems, compared with about 500 a few months ago, and plans to "add hundreds of employees in the next year". After launching the two planned prototype satellites, Amazon said it would collect performance, diagnosis and telemetry data from the satellite bus and payload components, and collect data from its ground station antennas (including customer terminals, gateways and TT & C ground stations). Amazon's goal is to promote space broadband Internet to consumers. At present, it is facing fierce competition from similar systems of companies such as SpaceX, INMARSAT and oneweb under Elon Musk. Among them, SpaceX's star chain Internet has been operating in many countries, including Europe and South America. Oneweb, owned by the British government and Bharti global, India, said it would provide global coverage by the end of 2022. INMARSAT's low earth orbit space Internet, called Orchestra, aims to enhance 5g network capacity, especially for offshore customers. In July this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Kuiper systems' space Internet program. The company plans to launch more than 3200 satellites to provide low latency broadband Internet coverage for the earth's surface. In recent months, Kuiper systems and SpaceX have been shelling each other through documents submitted to the FCC. Amazon believes that Musk's space company has not met regulatory requirements. In the latest submission, Kuiper systems said that the two experimental satellites would operate at an orbital altitude of 367 miles (about 590 kilometers). The company's test must first be approved by the FCC before operating the two prototype satellites. In addition to announcing the launch of the prototype satellite, Kuiper systems also tried to assure the space community that the company would try to mitigate any harmful effects of its satellites. Previously, many people criticized such large space Internet satellite projects, including making the low earth orbit environment more crowded, increasing the possibility of collision, and making it more difficult to launch satellites in the future Said that after completing the test, it will send the prototype satellite into the earth's atmosphere and burn there, so as to make it out of orbit. Kuiper systems also said that the company has always been working with astronomers and other companies in the industry to reduce the visibility of its satellites. Astronomers are concerned about the rise of the satellite Internet, because bright satellites will cause more interference in the observation of the night sky. In order to help reduce the brightness of the satellite, Kuiper systems installed a sunshade on one of the two prototypes to reduce the visibility Its ability to reflect sunlight. The company said: "we will collect data to compare the reflectivity between the two satellites and share any research results with the astronomical community after the mission is completed." SpaceX has launched more than 1000 sunshaded satellites to reduce their brightness. (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：Net Ease
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