Amazon books 83 launches with Blue Origin, 2 others in biggest commercial rocket deal

Amazon, on April 5, announced the booking of three major rocket companies for a whopping 83 launches under its Project Kuiper meant for internet satellites. The companies include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin for 27 launches, Boeing and Lockheed Martin's joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA) for 38 launches, and European launch provider Arianespace for 18 launches. Authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2020, Amazon has pledged $10 billion for Project Kuiper under which it would develop an internet constellation made of 3,236 satellites. 

Dave Limp, Amazon's senior vice president of devices and services said in a statement as per CNBC, "We still have lots of work ahead, but the team has continued to hit milestone after milestone across every aspect of our satellite system. These launch agreements reflect our incredible commitment and belief in Project Kuiper".

"We strongly believe in the mission of Project Kuiper. We are honored to be entrusted with the majority of Amazon’s launches with a total of 47 missions, including the nine Atlas launches already on contract,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO said in a statement.

Biggest rocket deal in the history of private space industry 

Amazon's deal with the aforementioned companies can be considered the biggest one yet in the history of the private space industry as none have booked this many launches at once. Amazon, however, refused to disclose the worth of the contracts and the companies too denied revealing their base prices for each launch. Although it is worth noting that the US government purchased launches on ULA's Vulcan rockets for about $112 million each. In addition to this, Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket was reported to have a base price of $77 million for each launch. 

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin revealed that the launches are manifested for a five-year period and would use its New Glenn rocket. The heavy-lift launch vehicle has a seven-metre fairing to carry the payload and its reusable first stage is built for a minimum of 25 missions.

So far, Amazon needs to install half of its aimed internet satellites, about 1,600, in the next six years as per the rules of the FCC. While it is unclear when Amazon would begin Project Kuiper, the company is scheduled to test a pair of Kuiper prototype satellites starting later this year.