THE NEW SPACE RACE: Project Kuiper readies long-awaited operational satellite launch.

United Launch Alliance is set to loft the first 27 satellites of the more than 3,200 planned for Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband constellation April 9, roughly a year behind schedule as the company races to meet deployment deadlines.

Amazon said April 2 it is preparing to launch its first batch of satellites to low Earth orbit on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, as part of a mission dubbed KA-01 (Kuiper Atlas 1).

The satellites feature significant upgrades over two prototypes ULA launched on an Atlas V in 2023, according to Amazon, including improved phased array antennas, processors, solar arrays, propulsion and optical inter-satellite links.

Successful in-orbit prototype tests had given Amazon confidence it could start deploying operational satellites, built at a facility in Kirkland, Washington, in the first half of 2024, enabling beta trials with potential customers such as Verizon and Vodafone later that year.

The company has not commented on what caused a delay that pushed potential beta services into 2025.

Well, space is hard and most everybody runs late.