The satellite internet development field includes some very big players, including SpaceX, Amazon, Softbank and Facebook. But it seems that Facebook has essentially exited the business, selling its satellite internet group to Amazon.
See also: Google: Agreement with SpaceX for the Starlink satellite Internet network!
For Amazon, it is an important step in its effort to develop its Project Kuiper and be able to compete with SpaceX's Starlink broadband program.
Like Starlink, Project Kuiper is designed to provide low-latency, high-speed broadband to users around the world. Amazon aims to have a constellation of 3,236 satellites in orbit by 2029, with half of them launched by 2026. It also plans to build 12 ground stations around the world to relay data to and from the satellites.
See also: Elon Musk: Starlink will be available worldwide in August
The company has said it will spend more than $10 billion to do all of this and recently received FAA approval for the project. It also announced last year that it would use United Launch Alliance 's highly reliable Atlas V rocket for its initial satellite launches.
Amazon has significantly increased its Project Kuiper efforts at its Redmond headquarters, with 500 employees currently and 200 open positions. The employees coming from Facebook are reportedly based in the Los Angeles area and include physicists as well as optical, prototyping, engineering and software engineers. Facebook’s former head of connectivity for Southern California, Jin Bains, is now listed as Project Kuiper’s director on his LinkedIn page.
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Meanwhile, Facebook appears to be exiting the satellite internet business and focusing on terrestrial programs, having invested in undersea and terrestrial fiber, as well as wireless services like ExpressWiFi. The company recently launched an “Athena” satellite through its PointView Tech, but that was a test mission and not the launch of a satellite internet constellation. With the sale of its satellite group to Amazon, it appears that its ambitions in that area have come to a halt.
