Amazon's Project Kuiper Faces Launch Bottlenecks Despite Satellite Readiness

Amazon now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing idle in Florida, waiting to join the company’s low-Earth orbit Internet constellation, an Amazon official said Tuesday.

“They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, during a teleconference with reporters. “And we’re currently manufacturing several satellites a day.”

Metayer spoke on the eve of the company’s next mission, during which an Ariane 64 rocket will launch three dozen Amazon Leo satellites into orbit from a spaceport in French Guiana. Liftoff is targeted for 7:53 am ET (11:53 UTC) on Wednesday.

Arianespace steps up

France-based Arianespace has emerged as a critical partner for Amazon, which, to date, has had the majority of its 331 satellites launched on Atlas V rockets. However, Amazon has just one more mission booked on this rocket, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, as the vehicle is slated for retirement.

To launch the majority of its Leo constellation, Amazon booked rides on three large, new rockets four years ago: 18 launches on the Ariane 6 rocket, 12 launches on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, with options for 15 additional launches; and 38 launches of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.

But of these new rockets, only Arianespace has delivered so far, with two launches completed this year, another on Wednesday, and more to come. Neither New Glenn (also owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos) nor Vulcan has launched Amazon satellites yet.

“As for Arianespace, they have definitely stepped up,” Metayer said. “They’re very reliable on their manifest dates, and they’re very reliable and safe on their insertions into orbit. So we definitely would continue to look forward to the next 16 launches with them on our existing contract, and we see them being a player long-term beyond that.”

Falling behind schedule

Amazon originally planned to reach a high flight cadence by the mid-2020s. While its satellite manufacturing business has delivered, a serious launch bottleneck remains. Only about 10 percent of the company’s planned 3,236 satellite constellation has been deployed to date.

Recently, the company withstood another setback when the New Glenn rocket exploded during a test firing on its launch pad in Florida. This accident in late May destroyed the rocket and severely damaged the New Glenn booster’s only launch pad. Bezos has said New Glenn will return to flight this year, but most independent industry observers believe it will require 12 to 18 months to restore the Launch Complex 36A launch pad.

There is another issue stemming from this failure. Blue Origin has not said anything publicly, but multiple sources have pointed to an issue with the BE-4 rocket engine that powers the first stage of New Glenn as the culprit behind the launch pad accident. This engine also powers the first stage of the Vulcan rocket, so it will complicate that vehicle’s return to flight while also complicating efforts to address strap-on booster issues.

Metayer said during Tuesday’s call with reporters that the first Vulcan launch carrying Amazon Leo satellites could still occur in the “late” third quarter of this year.

What of that New Glenn accident?

Asked about the New Glenn accident and its impact on Amazon’s manifest, Metayer noted that the rocket accounts for less than one quarter of all the launches Amazon has booked. (This may be true, but the large New Glenn rocket is expected to carry at least 50 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit per flight, compared to Ariane’s 36.)

“We have quite a few other launches we’ve secured across all the multiple vehicles, and we continue to look at opportunities to increase that number,” he said. “We definitely want to see New Glenn come to service, and we definitely look forward to flying on them, but they’re not the only provider. We have a very diversified launch portfolio, intentionally.”

Metayer said Amazon remains “on track” to begin rolling out commercial service with the Amazon Leo constellation later this year.