Why You Can Trust CNET Amazon Shows Off Terminals for Its Upcoming Satellite Internet Service
The tech giant expects Project Kuiper to eventually serve "tens of millions of customers."
Amazon says its terminal for homes and small businesses, seen here, weighs less than 5 pounds (without its mounting gear).
Amazon on Tuesday offered at look at three customer terminals for its upcoming satellite broadband service, dubbed Project Kuiper. In a blog post, Amazon detailed residential, commercial and ultracompact terminals, all designed to be installed outdoors in order to communicate with satellites passing overhead.
Project Kuiper aims to beam internet service to customers from a constellation of more than 3,000 broadband satellites in low Earth orbit. It'll compete with services like SpaceX's Starlink, which already has over 2,000 satellites in orbit delivering internet to customers in dozens of countries.
Amazon said it eventually expects Project Kuiper to serve "tens of millions of customers."
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The terminal for residential and small business customers is less than 11 inches square and weighs under 5 pounds, without its mounting bracket, according to Amazon. Project Kuiper will also have a smaller terminal that's 7 inches square and weighs 1 pound, which will serve as a more portable and affordable option, Amazon said.
The 11-inch terminal will deliver speeds up to 400 megabits per second, and the 7-inch terminal will offer speeds up to 100Mbps. The company's largest terminal, aimed at enterprise and government customers, will measure 19 by 30 inches and deliver speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, Amazon said.
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Amazon's smaller terminal aims to offer more mobility.
While Amazon said it expects to produce the terminals for "less than $400 each," it didn't say what it plans to charge customers for the terminals or broadband service.
Amazon said it expects to launch production satellites in the first half of 2024 and could start offering service to customers later that year. The company is set to launch two prototype satellites on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket in May.