Amazon Unveils Antennas for Project Kuiper

Amazon presented three antennas for its low-Earth orbit (LEO) Project Kuiper satellite service. The company unveiled standard, ultra-compact, and pro versions of its satellite antennas.

The standard unit should deliver data rates of up to 400Mb/s, with a production cost of less than $400. The ultra-compact measures 7 square inches and will offer rates of up to 100 Mb/s. The pro version measures 19x30-inches and is targeted at the enterprise, government, and telecommunications services requiring high bandwidth. It is capable of providing data rates of up to 1Gb/s.

The antennas use an Amazon-designed Prometheus baseband chip used in its satellites and ground stations. The company stated these offer the processing power of a 5G modem chip found in modern smartphones, with up to 1Tb/s to be available on each bird. Amazon signed various deals covering satellite launches in 2022. It expects to begin mass-producing satellites by the end of this year, with initial launches and commercial services planned for 2024. Ultimately it aims to launch a constellation of 3,236 satellites to provide broadband to homes and public institutions in areas of the US where internet access is limited.