Amazon’s satellite operation Project Kuiper – founded by Jeff Bezos – plans to launch a broadband service in the UK, which will compete directly with Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Low-Earth orbit (LEO) space is filling up with satellite constellations that aim, when complete, to give total broadband internet coverage around the world.
Satellites that orbit the Earth in LEO, which ranges from as low as 550km to as high as 2,000km, reduce the latency effect associated with satellites in a much higher orbit. As such, satellites in this region of space will be able to provide internet to even the most remote areas of the globe.
Currently Starlink is dominating the LEO region. However, according to a regulatory filing reported in The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, Project Kuiper (a subsidiary of Amazon) said it would seek access to British radio frequencies “over the next one to two years” as it prepares to offer a satellite broadband service.
Project Kuiper announced earlier in 2022 that it had secured...