Amazon has signed an agreement with the United Launch Alliance (ULA), which involves launching Kuiper satellite Internet spacecraft on nine Atlas V rockets, Ars Technica reports.
The publication notes that it is not known exactly how many satellites will be launched on each rocket. Ars Technica recalls that Amazon did not choose the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX to launch its spacecraft, since the latter's Starlink satellite system is a potential competitor to Kuiper.
According to Ars Technica, ULA has a sufficient number of Atlas V missiles using Russian RD-180 engines, which will be completed in the next few years.
In April, Roscosmos reported that the Research and Production Association (NPO) Energomash had transferred the last six RD-180 engines to the American side.
Amazon's investment in the Kuiper project, which employs more than 500 people, is $ 10 billion. As part of the program, it is planned to launch 3,236 satellites into low-Earth orbit. By July 2026, at least half of the specified number of spacecraft should be in space.
Ivan Potapov
