Amazon’s Challenge Kuiper is lastly getting a launch date. Immediately, Amazon introduced an settlement with Australia’s state-owned Nationwide Broadband Community Firm (NBN Co) to deliver the satellite tv for pc web service to 300,000 eligible clients in rural Australia in “the center of 2026.”
The announcement comes 5 years after the Federal Communications Fee first gave Amazon permission to deploy a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites just like SpaceX’s Starlink service. Since then, Amazon has launched simply 78 Challenge Kuiper satellites — far under the 8,073 energetic Starlink satellites in orbit.
“Australia’s huge geography presents distinctive connectivity challenges that conventional infrastructure typically can’t overcome,” Joe Lathan, Challenge Kuiper’s supervisor for Australia and New Zealand, stated within the press launch. “This partnership with NBN Co represents our dedication to fixing these challenges by means of innovation and collaboration.”
That is the primary time Amazon has put a agency launch date on its Challenge Kuiper web service. In a web page up to date on June 5, Amazon stated it plans to begin delivering service to clients “in late 2025.” The corporate hasn’t stated the place Challenge Kuiper will probably be obtainable or how a lot service will price.
Amazon didn’t instantly reply to CNET’s request for remark.