There is something about Elon Musk that attracts either vitriol or worship from most people. So, if you’re like some of the Americans vandalizing Tesla cars to show disdain for him but won’t actually climb up people’s roofs to tear up their Starlink dishes, there is some good news for you.
One other billionaire has made progress in the satellite internet game. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon plans to deploy a total of 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) to create a global internet service, competing directly with SpaceX’s Starlink.
Starlink has over 7,000 satellites in orbit and plans to add thousands more. These satellites orbit the Earth at about 550 km above the surface. Amazon’s constellation of satellites will orbit at about 630 km.
Amazon’s service will offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps with a small terminal dish (a Starlink Mini competitor) and up to 1 Gbps with larger dishes for residential and enterprise use.
Their small terminal will be a square of about 18 cm on all sides and will weigh about 450 grams. That is quite small.
The company expects to produce these terminal antennas for less than $400 each. It’s reported that Amazon could potentially subsidize costs to attract users. They better do that because Starlink is doing the same and offering kits for way less than the production cost for Amazon.
Amazon has been testing stuff out for years and is now ready to take the next step. The first batch of 27 satellites is scheduled to launch on April 9, 2025.
Some of you will be amused to find out that SpaceX will be one of the companies Amazon will work with to launch those satellites into space. SpaceX is Starlink’s parent company.
In addition to SpaceX, Amazon’s launch partners include United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Blue Origin.
I think we all now understand how competition is usually good for consumers, so I’m excited to see Amazon enter the space.
Amazon says it expects to begin offering high-speed, low-latency internet service “later this year.” Of course, the service won’t be available here in Zimbabwe this year.
However, Amazon has ambitions to go global, saying the service will be available in virtually any location on the planet eventually. So, let’s hope that will be a reality in just a few years.
We shall see how Europe’s OneWeb and the Chinese alternative fare in the coming years, but these are exciting times in global internet provision.
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