Amazon.com Inc. has signed an agreement with rival SpaceX for three launches of Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket, in order to loft Amazon’s future internet-from-space Project Kuiper satellites into orbit.
The deal, announced on Amazon’s website on Friday, comes as the two companies are competing to deliver rival satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit. Each is aimed at providing broadband internet coverage to customers on Earth.
SpaceX has been fleshing out its own mega constellation, called Starlink, which currently has roughly 5,000 satellites in orbit. Amazon’s Project Kuiper recently launched the first two test satellites of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation.
