Jeff Bezos’ Amazon quietly launches plan to take down Elon Musk

ISLAMABAD: Jeff Bezos is one of the best-known names in the world, thanks to the 27 years he put in to transform Amazon from an internet bookseller into the retail behemoth it is today.

Bezos has since stepped down from his CEO post and turned his attention to the stars. He now owns Blue Origin, a space technology company. The company made a recent announcement that reveals big plans that could majorly impact Elon Musk’s SpaceX and, more specifically, his Starlink network. In an April 2 post on its official site, Amazon announced that Project Kuiper, its broadband satellite network, is set for its first launch on Wednesday, April 9.

The mission, named KA-01 for Kuiper Atlas 1, will launch on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and deploy 27 satellites at an altitude of 280 miles (450 kilometers) above Earth, the post says.

Amazon also reveals more details on its future plans for the satellite system.

Our first-generation satellite system will include more than 3,200 advanced low Earth orbit satellites, and we ve secured more than 80 launches to deploy that initial constellation, with each one adding dozens of satellites to the network, the post says. The KA-01 mission is just the first step in that process. As of September 2024, Starlink has established more than 7,000 satellites in low-earth orbit and plans to deploy 12,000 more.