Atlas V rocket will launch Amazon's 1st big batch of Project Kuiper internet satellites on April 9
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Amazon's first big batch of Project Kuiper broadband satellites will lift off just a week from now, if all goes according to plan.
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is scheduled to send 27 Project Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) on April 9, Amazon announced today (April 2).
The Atlas V will lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station during a three-hour window that opens at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). You'll be able to watch it live when the time comes.
This will be the second Project Kuiper launch to date; an Atlas V lofted two test versions of the satellites back in October 2023.
Related: Atlas V rocket launches Amazon's 1st 2 internet satellites to orbit (video)
"We've done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we've flown our final satellite design and the first time we've deployed so many satellites at once," Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper, said in an Amazon statement today.
"No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years," Badyal added.
The initial Project Kuiper constellation will consist of about 3,200 satellites in LEO, according to Amazon. The network will provide internet service to customers around the world, just as SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation already does. (Elon Musk's company currently operates more than 7,100 Starlink satellites in LEO and launches more of them every week.)
RELATED STORIES
— Amazon gets a green light to launch 3,000-satellite Kuiper constellation
— Starlink satellites: Facts, tracking and impact on astronomy
— Blinded by the light: How bad are satellite megaconstellations for astronomy?
The April 9 launch will be the first of the year for ULA. The 27 Project Kuiper satellites will comprise the heaviest payload that the venerable Atlas V has ever flown, according to Amazon.
The company will build out the Project Kuiper constellation over the coming years with seven more Atlas V launches and 38 involving the rocket's successor, ULA's new Vulcan Centaur.
"An additional 30-plus launches are planned across our other launch providers: Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX," Amazon wrote in today's statement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The Trump-Musk spat could have implications for the Scottish Mortgage share price
Since its post-'Liberation Day' low, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LSE:SMT) share price has recovered 22%. And although it has never quite captured the highs of late 2021, compared to June 2020, it's up 33%. But the trust has stakes in two of Elon Musk's companies — Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) — that could be affected by Thursday's (5 June) social media spat between the 'first buddy' and President Trump. As the two were publicly trading messages, Tesla's stock tanked 14%. Although the fallout didn't help, I'm sure some of this could have been due to the earlier news that the electric car maker's UK sales were 36% lower in May compared to a year earlier. Okay, the British market accounts for a small proportion of cars sold. But this trend mirrors a similar pattern in other parts of the world. Ironically, it's Musk's close relationship with the US president that's sometimes blamed. At 31 March, Scottish Mortgage's stake in Tesla accounted for 0.8% of the trust's assets. All other things being equal, a 14% fall in the EV maker's stock market valuation would reduce the trust's share price by only 0.11%. More significantly, it has a 7.8% exposure to SpaceX, worth £1.07bn. It's the biggest holding in the trust's portfolio. And Trump's threatened to remove government subsidies and contracts from all of Musk's businesses. Since 2008, the space exploration group has received more than $20bn from NASA and the Department of Defense. But Musk didn't seem too bothered. He posted on X: 'In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately'. Of course, this could all blow over soon. All brothers — that's how one US interviewer recently described their relationship — fall out from time to time. But given the ferocity of the exchanges, it's hard to see how. However, despite Scottish Mortgage's exposure to SpaceX, shareholders don't appear concerned. On the day after the public row, its share price was largely unaffected. But that's one of the advantages of an investment trust. Risk is spread across several businesses, often in different countries and industries. Indeed, Scottish Mortgage has holdings in 95 companies operating in five continents. It seeks only to invest in the world's 'exceptional' growth companies. Currently, the shares trade at a 10% discount to its net asset value (NAV). This implies the trust's undervalued. But it has a large exposure (26.2% of assets) to unquoted companies — including SpaceX — which can be hard to value. If the space group's shares were publicly traded, I'm sure they would have plunged on Thursday. But in the absence of an active market of buyers and sellers, it's difficult to accurately measure their value from one day to the next. Having said that, if SpaceX went out of business tomorrow, over £1bn would be wiped off the trust's asset value. But ignoring Musk's businesses, the trust's impressive track record is one reason for long-term growth investors to consider taking a stake. In the 10 years to 30 April, its share price has increased 260% and its NAV has soared by 318%. It benchmarks its performance against the FTSE All-World Index. Over the same period, this increased by 177%. The post The Trump-Musk spat could have implications for the Scottish Mortgage share price appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool James Beard has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Tesla. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
This former penny stock fell 10% after the Musk-Trump clash! Time to buy?
Filtronic (LSE: FTC) has been on an almighty run lately, having risen 82% year to date to reach 137p. But the two-year gain is even more eye-popping, as this was a penny stock trading for just 13p back in June 2023. So that makes it a 10-bagger over this period! However, the Filtronic share price fell as much as 10% on 6 June. What caused this? And should I buy the dip? Filtronic designs and manufactures high-frequency communication products for various sectors, including telecommunications, aerospace, and defence. Its products include E-band transceivers, tower-mounted amplifiers, and other radio frequency (RF) components. Over the years, the firm has secured contracts with the likes of BAE Systems, QinetiQ, and the European Space Agency. However, it was a strategic partnership with SpaceX announced last year to supply specialist equipment for the Starlink satellite constellation that sent the stock surging. In February, Filtronic secured its largest production order from SpaceX, valued at $21m, to be fulfilled over the next couple of years. And this gave the firm confidence that it would beat previous market expectations for FY2025 and FY2026. Looking ahead, the company should also have an attractive pipeline of growth opportunities in the European defence and satellite communications markets. The founder of SpaceX is, of course, Elon Musk, and he's just fell out spectacularly with President Trump. I won't rehash the soap opera-like details here, as they're widely available elsewhere. But Trump did threaten to terminate federal contracts for Musk's enterprises, including SpaceX. This prompted Musk to announce the immediate decommissioning of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which is critical for transporting astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. What has any of this got to do with Filtronic? Well, Reuters reports that around $22bn worth of federal contracts could be at risk. If so, SpaceX's budget and the continued pace of the Starlink build-out could be jeopardised. That may lead to reduced need for Filtronic's components in the years ahead. Given that Filtronic has scaled up manufacturing and R&D to meet future demand, it might face excess capacity and margin pressure. In this situation, sentiment for Filtronic shares could sour, sending them much lower. Now, this is all just theoretical. As I write, Musk has retracted the kneejerk Dragon capsule decision, and it even seems like there might be some sort of public reunion with Trump. But literally anything could happen from this point onwards. Weighing things up, there doesn't appear to be any immediate threat to Filtronic. And the share price pullback isn't that severe in the grand scheme of things. As I write, it's just 6%. The company's revenue for FY2026, which has just started, is forecast to be £50m. That would be double what it was in FY2023, signalling very robust growth. However, this stock is currently trading at around 45 times forward earnings, and there's no dividend. Much of the company's current value rests on the SpaceX partnership, which could be a double-edged sword if anything goes wrong there. Investors considering the stock should be mindful of the relatively high valuation and customer concentration risks. While I like the SpaceX-related growth story here, I'm currently not looking to buy any shares. The post This former penny stock fell 10% after the Musk-Trump clash! Time to buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool Ben McPoland has positions in BAE Systems. The Motley Fool UK has recommended BAE Systems and QinetiQ Group Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Musk's DOGE Goons Surreptitiously Transmitted Reams of White House Data
Elon Musk's goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House, according to a new report. Starlink is a satellite Wi-Fi service owned and operated by Musk's SpaceX. The DOGE goons installed it in mid-March with the sign-off of Donald Trump's administration, but against concerns raised by security officials, according to The Washington Post. The officials in charge of protecting the White House's communications were not informed of the installation ahead of time, insiders told the Post. At the time, DOGE said installing Starlink was intended to address connection 'dead zones' on the White House compound. However, the insiders suggested that the move was intended to bypass White House systems that track the transmission of data—with names and time stamps—and secure it from spies. 'Starlink doesn't require anything. It allows you to transmit data without any kind of record or tracking,' one insider told the Post. 'White House IT systems had very strong controls on network access. You had to be on a full-tunnel VPN at all times. If you are not on the VPN, White House-issued devices can't connect to the outside.' 'With a Starlink connection, that means White House devices could leave the network and go out through gateways,' the person said. 'It's going to help you bypass security.' The White House did not immediately return The Daily Beast's request for comment. Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, told the Post, 'We were aware of DOGE's intentions to improve internet access on the campus and did not consider this matter a security incident or security breach.' Before Musk departed the government—and blew up his relationship with Trump—he was busy laying siege to sensitive government databases, including the one that handles Social Security, sparking concerns from critics. In April, a whistleblower at the National Labor Relations Board accused the Musk-led department of a 'significant cybersecurity breach.' Daniel Berulis, an IT staffer, said he saw anomalously large data transfers and sign-in attempts from Russia after DOGE took over his agency's systems. In that case, the DOGE staffers insisted that their actions in the system not be tracked. While Trump and the rest of his administration supported Musk against critics while he sought to slash government jobs and budgets on Trump's behalf, the two have now suffered a nasty, mud-slinging breakup. Even as the battle between the two billionaires continues, the Post reported that guests to the White House still see a listing for 'Starlink Guest' on their phones.
