Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites will use lasers to communicate with each other

Following in the footsteps of SpaceX, Amazon has successfully tested the inter-satellite links of its two Project Kuiper prototypes in low Earth orbit (LEO), as it prepares to begin deploying a broadband mesh network in 2024.

KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 used onboard optical communications payloads to maintain a 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) bidirectional link for approximately an hour at a time, has recognized the vice president of the Kuiper Project, Rajeev Badyal.

The satellites were almost 1,000 kilometers away during the tests, but the technology is designed to operate at distances up to 2,600 kilometers. In fact, once the constellation is completed, the 3,200 satellites would be positioned 1,000 kilometers away.

Each satellite is being built in-house and would be equipped with multiple optical terminals to be able to contact an unknown number of satellites simultaneously.

According to Badyal, the data could circulate through the Kuiper Project satellites 30% faster than via fiber optic cables on land, since light travels more slowly through glass than through space.

Fast connections are important for sectors such as the financial sector, where stock operations are carried out in milliseconds.

Allowing data to jump from one satellite to the next on its way to a ground station is also important for shipping, aviation and other sectors outside the reach of ground gateways.

SpaceX began adding optical links between satellites to its broadband constellation Starlink LEO in early 2021, initially so that the company would not have to install ground stations on the poles to achieve global coverage.

A mesh network in space also greatly improves network resilience, as data can be rerouted to avoid any satellite failure, and is a key part of other proposed constellations, such as Telesat's Lightspeed.

Amazon has already successfully completed end-to-end testing of KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, enabling production of commercial satellites using the same architecture to begin. The company plans to begin launching these commercial satellites in the first half of 2024, taking advantage of contracts secured with United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX.