Amazon.com’s Kuiper Systems has asked US regulators to approve the launch of 4,538 more satellites to strengthen its constellation as it competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for broadband customers from space.
The company said that these additions will bring Kuiper’s constellation to 7,774 satellites. Record Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission.
These companies are joining the craze to provide Internet services from orbit near the Earth, partly to reduce launch costs. Low orbit provides the smallest lag time for data to bounce between the ground user and the spacecraft.
Kuiper’s request is one of nine applications submitted within the FCC deadline, requiring authorization for a total of more than 35,000 spacecraft. This is more than seven times the high-altitude figure today. These figures do not include the nearly 30,000 additional satellites proposed by the market leader SpaceX, which has launched more than 1,700 Starlink spacecraft.
The companies that applied for approval from the FCC on Thursday included Boeing, which, after obtaining a license for 147 satellites on November 3, proposed another 5,789 communications satellites. Boeing stated in its application that the additional spacecraft will improve its ability to serve businesses and governments.
Astra Space requires a license for 13,620 satellites for what it calls “communication services, environmental and natural resource applications, and national security missions.”
Boeing said in an email that the new satellites can help ease congestion on certain communication frequencies. Astra did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment, and an Amazon spokesperson did not provide comment when asked.
Both Kuiper and Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies applied for a fleet of low-Earth orbit satellites before the FCC. In recent months, the two companies have been arguing, and Amazon believes that SpaceX has not met regulatory requirements. SpaceX believes that these criticisms are irrelevant.
SpaceX has become a space leader and has launched at least 1,700 Starlink broadband satellites and plans to launch thousands more. Amazon.com earlier obtained FCC approval for 3236 satellites and said it will launch two prototypes later next year.
OneWeb, based in London, is building a fleet of 648 satellites.
