The American giant Amazon announced on Tuesday April 5 the signing of contracts with three space launch companies allowing the putting into orbit of thousands of satellites intended for broadband Internet. The company, which is very present in IT services, has formalized an agreement with the American companies Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) but also the European company Arianespace.
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18 shots fired by Ariane 6
Among the 83 planned launches, 18 will be carried out by Ariane 6 rockets. This new launcher, manufactured like Ariane 5 at Les Mureaux in the Paris region, must carry out its first qualification launch at the end of the year. Contract ” absolutely massive, welcomes Arianespace which allows the future launcher to triple its order book.
This contract was “qualified as a great moment in the history of the company by its executive chairman, Stéphane Israel: “ For us, 18 was the right number, both we wanted something absolutely massive (…) and at the same time we obviously wanted to keep our commitments and keep availability for other customers”.
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Neither the amount of the contract nor the start of its implementation have been specified by Amazon or Arianespace. But the executive chairman says he expects a pace of launches of “six a year over three years”.
3,236 satellites within five years
The largest part of the contract, however, goes to American companies. First, at ULA, with 38 launches, a joint venture between the giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which operates from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the emblematic site of space history.
For its part, Blue Origin, founded like Amazon by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was awarded 37 launches, including 15 as options for its giant New Glenn launcher. But Blue Origin will also benefit from the ULA part of the contract since it builds the Vulcan Centaur engines.
This triple contract and its 83 launches should allow Amazon to deploy within five years “ most of its constellation of 3,236 satellites. With the ambition to increase “global broadband access through a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit”about 600 km above sea level.