Project Kuiper expects to launch first satellites in 1H24

Project Kuiper, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband venture that is being developed by US web giant Amazon, hopes to launch its first satellites in the first half of 2024, and commence testing shortly after. The timeline was divulged by Dave Limp, Amazon’s SVP of Devices and Services, at the Satellite 2023 conference in Washington, DC. Mr Limp said: ‘We’ll definitely be beta testing with commercial customers in 2024.’ Project Kuiper is mandated to launch half of its planned 3,236 satellites by 2026.