Amazon (AMZN.O) has announced its plans to construct a $120 million processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its ambitious Kuiper internet satellite project. The facility, covering an area of 100,000 square feet, is a part of Amazon’s commitment to invest approximately $10 billion in the Kuiper project, which aims to establish a network of 3,200 low Earth-orbiting satellites to provide global broadband internet coverage.
The Kuiper internet network will compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, led by Elon Musk, and is expected to complement Amazon’s web services business. The Florida facility will employ 50 staff members and serve as the final stage for Amazon’s Kuiper satellites before they are launched into space. These satellites will be produced at the primary plant in Redmond, Washington, and then transported to Florida for fitting into rocket payload fairings, the protective shells that encase satellites on top of rockets.
Construction of the site began in January, and Amazon aims to complete it by late 2024. The company plans to ship the first batch of satellites to the facility for processing in the second half of 2025. This timeline sets off a time-sensitive goal for Amazon to deploy half of the Kuiper network into orbit by 2026, as per the requirements set by U.S. regulators.
To support its satellite launches, Amazon has secured 77 heavy-lift rocket launch contracts, potentially worth billions of dollars, primarily from United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed, as well as Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos.
Amazon intends to launch a few prototype satellites into space by the end of the current year, with plans to launch its first mass-produced satellites in 2024.
