By Mike Robuck

Amazon claimed to have secured the biggest set of rocket deals in commercial space history, with three of the industry’s biggest names set to complete up to 83 launches for the company’s Project Kuiper broadband satellites.

The company tapped Arianespace, Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) to deploy the majority of the 3,236 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites it plans to deploy for the broadband service.

Under an initial agreement, Arianespace is set to conduct 18 launches, Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture ULA 38 and Blue Origin 12.

Amazon holds an option to add a further 15 launches to its Blue Origin agreement.

Financial terms of the agreements weren’t available.

Amazon has committed US$10 billion to Project Kuiper as it seeks to launch a rival to services including Starlink and OneWeb.

The US Federal Communications Commission authorised Project Kuiper in 2020. It is designed to deliver broadband to homes and public insitutions in areas where internet access is limited.

Project Kuiper plans to deploy a pair of prototype satellites later this year on ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket.https://www.mobileworldlive.com