Bet they signed that contract through gritted teeth
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Yeah, I didn't expect this at all. Despite Falcon 9 being the cheapest, most reliable, and perhaps more importantly, most available launcher in the current market, I really thought Kuiper would avoid sending money towards Starlink at all cost. This move doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the New Glenn program, though we did see some hardware recently...
Let's spell that out: Bezos is paying Musk to launch his satellites
Bezos
Jeff Who?
"Amazon is up against the clock when it comes to getting its Project Kuiper constellation deployed. The company needs to launch 1,618 Kuiper satellites, or half of its planned first-generation constellation, into orbit by July 30, 2026 in order to meet a mandatory deadline from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)." https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/12/01/amazon-buys-three-launches-from-spacex-for-rival-internet-constellation/
So that's about 50 per month from now until then? They'd better get moving.
I wonder if this is a direct result of that lawsuit by that pension fund
It's only 3 launches, which is a drop in the bucket for a program with 92 flights booked. So, yeah, it might be a mix of trying to placate investors and starting to cave because of availability.
Project Kuiper has contracted three Falcon 9 launches, and these missions are targeted to lift off beginning in mid-2025.
Wow, I'm honestly quite surprised that Amazon has made this move. Are they trying to protect against the possibility that none of Vulcan, New Glenn, or Ariane 6 will be flying regularly by 2025?
I thought they also bought out the rest of the Atlas Vs, but that only gets them so far.
I wonder how many of the 3 new rockets will launch more than 5 times in 2025. I guess I wouldn't bet on any? Maybe Vulcan?
Yeah, 9 Atlas Vs doesn't get far with 1600+ satellites.
I wonder how many of the 3 new rockets will launch more than 5 times in 2025. I guess I wouldn’t bet on any? Maybe Vulcan?
Barring some catastrophic failure, I'd be surprised if neither Vulcan nor Ariane 6 achieved 5 launches in 2025. They've both had fairly successful static fire campaigns, and are targeting Q4 of 2023 and Q2 of 2024, respectively. I'd be very surprised if New Glenn launched more than 5 times in 2025.
Falcon 9, Atlas V, Ariane 5, and Delta IV couldn't get to 5 launches in year 2.
Of the 3, I have the most faith in ULA to make it happen because of their experience and schedule pressure. Retooling existing Delta production lines seems like it should reduce their mfg teething issues. The same logic should apply to Ariane 6, but they've barely been launching Ariane 5s for the last few years, so I'm not confident.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
| Fewer Letters | More Letters |
|---|---|
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission |
| ~ | (Iron/steel) Face-Centered Cubic crystalline structure |
| ULA | United Launch Alliance (Lockheed/Boeing joint venture) |
| Jargon | Definition |
|---|---|
| Starlink | SpaceX's world-wide satellite broadband constellation |
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