Space

Unprecedented Bezos-Musk alliance: SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches 24 Amazon Kuiper satellites

The e-commerce giant unveiled Project Kuiper in 2019 with the aim of providing broadband internet from a constellation of over 3,000 satellites, in direct competition with South African-born billionaire StarLink

16 July 2025

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Unusual alliance between the space companies of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. The e-commerce and IT giant Amazon is now counting on the billionaire Trump's former 'friend''s rival company to launch a batch of devices into space.

On Wednesday, 24 satellites of Amazon's Kuiper project were in fact launched at 2.18am local time, 8.18am Italian time, on one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets from a launch pad on Florida's Space Coast.

The mission marks an unusual alliance. SpaceX's Starlink is currently the leading provider of satellite internet in low earth orbit, with a constellation of some 8,000 satellites and around 5 million customers worldwide.

Amazon launched the Project Kuiper in 2019 with the goal of providing broadband internet from a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites. The company is working towards a tight deadline imposed by the Federal Communications Commission, which requires to have around 1,600 satellites in orbit by the end of July 2026. Amazon's first two Kuiper launches took place in April and June, sending 27 satellites aboard rockets provided by the United Launch Alliance.

If all phases of the launch are successful, Amazon will have a total of 78 satellites in orbit. In order to meet the tight deadline imposed by the Fcc, Amazon must produce and deploy the satellites quickly, securing a large capacity from rocket suppliers. Kuiper has booked up to 83 launches, including three flights with SpaceX.

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SpaceX vs. Blue Origin, but Bezos is behind

Space has emerged as a battleground between Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Besides Kuiper, Bezos also competes with Musk through his rocket company Blue Origin.

In January, Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket for the first time, intended to rival SpaceX's Falcon 9 reusable rockets. Although Blue Origin is currently lagging behind SpaceX, Bezos predicted last year that his latest venture would one day be the biggest of Amazon, the e-commerce giant he founded in 1994.

Kuiper has become one of Amazon's biggest bets, with more than $10 billion earmarked for the project. The company may have to spend up to $23 billion to build its full constellation, Bank of America analysts wrote in a note to clients last week. This figure does not include the cost of building the terminals, which consumers will use to connect to the service.

Analysts estimate that Amazon will spend $150 million per launch this year, while satellite production costs are expected to reach $1.1 billion by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Amazon is targeting a market that is expected to grow to at least $40 billion by 2030, analysts wrote, citing Boston Consulting Group estimates. The firm estimated that Amazon could generate $7.1 billion in sales from Kuiper by 2032 if it managed to capture 30% of the market. "Given Starlink's solid initial growth, our estimates may be conservative," the analysts wrote.

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