Amazon's Starlink challenger set for launch - here's when you'll be able to use it

Amazon / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

If you're waiting for an alternate to Starlink, Amazon's reply is yet ready.

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In a blog station yesterday, Amazon announced that 27 satellites volition motorboat into debased orbit adjacent week from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., arsenic a portion of Project Kuiper. The motorboat volition hap nary earlier than noon Eastern connected Wednesday, April 9.

How to ticker the motorboat live

You tin ticker the motorboat unrecorded and travel the mission's advancement connected the official Kuiper 1 ngo page.

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Project Kuiper is Amazon's imaginativeness to bring high-speed, low-latency net to virtually immoderate determination connected the satellite -- precisely similar Starlink. It expects to statesman offering work aboriginal this year.

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Amazon says it has already secured much than 80 motorboat dates to deploy the remainder of its satellites, with each motorboat adding dozens to the network. The last fleet volition person much than 3,200 satellites. For comparison, Starlink has much than 7,100 satellites successful orbit.

Several options volition beryllium available, including 1 that sounds a batch similar Starlink Mini.

Consumer terminal coming

A modular lawsuit terminal measures little than 11 inches quadrate and 1 inch thick, and it weighs little than 5 pounds. Amazon says its user terminal volition beryllium "one of the astir almighty commercially available" of its size and volition beryllium susceptible of delivering speeds up to 400 megabits per second.

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A larger "Pro" commercialized terminal volition beryllium capable to present speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, portion a 7-inch quadrate plan volition beryllium the smallest and astir affordable lawsuit terminal, weighing 1 lb and offering speeds up to 100 Mbps.

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Amazon says it's focusing connected affordability for its lawsuit terminals, and its extremity is to plan a lawsuit terminal that costs little than $500 to build. A modular Starlink terminal costs $349, portion the Mini is $499. It hasn't announced pricing for work yet.

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