Amazon joins SpaceX, OneWeb, and Facebook in the race to create space-based internet services

Named for an astronomer who’s considered “the father of modern planetary science,” Gerard Kuiper, Kuiper Systems is the latest foray into space-based internet networking by a U.S.

As private companies look to commercialize space, high-speed internet is among the prospects that offer the highest profits in the short term, while providing necessary services to get online the remaining 3.8 billion people who don’t have access to the internet.

In February, OneWeb, another company that’s expecting to create a network of satellites to provide high-speed internet access, successfully launched its first satellites.

SpaceX also has designs on creating a global satellite network — in addition to its leading position as a launch services provider for companies looking to access outer space.

In a May report, the IEEE Spectrum laid out how Facebook had set up a small subsidiary called PointView Tech, which was developing a new satellite called “Athena” that could deliver data 10 times faster than SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

Amazon’s Kuiper satellite service complements the work that another Jeff Bezos company, Blue Origin, is conducting on the design, development and production of launch vehicles to take payloads into orbit.

Blue Origin has already signed contracts for a multi-launch agreement with Telesat — another company that’s developing a low Earth orbit constellation of satellites that will deliver fiber-like broadband services across the globe.