Amazon has revealed its initial lineup of Project Kuiper antennas. The terminals look like furniture and will send data to and from Amazon’s Low Earth Orbit internet satellites. The biggest one measures 19 inches by 30 inches, which is even larger than a full-sized patio table. The enterprise, governmental, and telecommunications operations are the intended uses of that paradigm. Internet rates of up to 1 Gbps will be offered, according to Amazon.
The typical consumer terminal has a smaller footprint, about 11 inches square and 1 inch thick. It is under five pounds without its mounting bracket. According to Amazon, this antenna should be able to transmit speeds of up to 400 Mbps.
The pricing of the terminals has not been disclosed by the company, but it claims that it should be able to produce the conventional model for less than $400 per. Starlink from SpaceX costs $599 for a terminal. However, Amazon will also provide a terminal that is smaller and less expensive. An antenna that is seven inches square, one pound in weight, and capable of up to 100 Mbps.
For the terminals, Amazon developed its own baseband chip. The same chip, which is being used in Project Kuiper satellites and ground gateway antennas, is described as having “the processing power of a 5G modem chip found in modern smartphones, the capability of a cellular base station to handle traffic from thousands of customers at once, and the ability of a microwave backhaul antenna to support powerful point-to-point connections.” Each satellite will be able to process up to one terabit of traffic per second, according to Amazon.
On the first Vulcan Centaur rocket launch from United Launch Alliance, two prototype satellites from Project Kuiper are scheduled to be launched. The debut date is set for May. By the end of this year, Amazon hopes to start mass producing satellites, and by the first half of 2024, it hopes to start launching them. Later in the following year, it intends to begin providing Project Kuiper service to clients. Amazon won conditional FCC approval earlier this month to launch thousands of Low Earth Orbit satellites.
