Jeff Bezos wins MoD contract amid concern over Musk satellite dominance
Jeff Bezos has won what is thought to be his first military contract in Britain as Amazon seeks to forge closer ties with defence organisations.
Amazon's satellite venture Project Kuiper secured a deal worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to undertake a study on advanced space-based communications systems for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which was later presented to UK Space Command.
One industry source said Amazon Kuiper executives had been 'rattling the door' of the British defence establishment as it prepares to launch a network of thousands of communications satellites in the coming years.
Amazon Kuiper is intended to compete with Mr Musk's Starlink, which already has 7,000 satellites in low-orbit above the Earth providing internet connectivity to millions of people.
The £670,000 consultancy deal with the MoD involved Kuiper exploring the use of 'translator' satellites for British military officials.
The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, has been working on similar technology. The idea is to develop a new communications layer between military, government and private satellites – or a nation's allies. Currently, satellites are mostly limited to sending signals to spacecraft in the same network.
The e-commerce giant has also been courting defence officials in the US for billions of dollars in contracts for its satellite business.
The Telegraph previously revealed that Amazon Kuiper executives met with Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, the former head of UK Space Command, last year. He also met with executives from Blue Origin, Mr Bezos's rocket business that is hoping to compete with SpaceX.
Amazon has already won billions of pounds in UK government contracts for its Amazon Web Services internet data and storage division, making it a critical government IT supplier.
Last week, Ofcom, the UK's telecoms regulator, approved a licence for Amazon to offer satellite-based broadband services in Britain. Starlink, Mr Musk's service, has around 87,000 customers.
Amazon's efforts to court British officials come as Western governments look for alternatives to Starlink. The mercurial Mr Musk is effectively a fixture of the US government through his Department of Government Efficiency.
The EU has approved funding for a massive satellite constellation, called Iris2, which is supposed to offer a sovereign space network for the bloc.
The UK also has a stake in Eutelsat OneWeb, the satellite business, although the Government has used Starlink's satellite dishes to trial connecting rural not-spots under a government-backed programme.
Taiwan, for instance, has held talks with Amazon over using its planned Kuiper network amid concerns over Mr Musk's business links in China. In Canada, meanwhile, the government in Ontario has threatened to rip up a Starlink contract in a row with the US over tariffs.
Britain is planning the development of its next generation of military satellites. This includes the £5bn Skynet 6 programme, which features Airbus and Lockheed Martin as final bidders. It is also exploring a £1bn intelligence-gathering satellite network.
Amazon has declined to comment.
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