ULA announced last week that it will be building a second cargo ship capable of transporting its Vulcan rocket hardware from its factory in Decatur, Alabama and its launch sites on both the East and West Coasts. The press release also emphasizes the importance Amazon‘s Kuiper satellite constellation plays in Vulcan’s launch services.
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This week Seth and Jared go over the top stories from the last week but for the main topic they piggy back off of  @smartereveryday‘s video about Apollo versus Artemis. A mandatory watch for everyone.
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In a rather surprising and weird move, Amazon has purchased three Falcon 9 flights with SpaceX to deploy its Project Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch contract comes after Amazon bought 77 launches from SpaceX competitors and receiving a lawsuit from a pension fund for not including SpaceX in the bids, the most reliable and successful launch provider on the market.
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Begun, the low Earth orbit satellite internet wars have – Yoda’s line sounded way more epic.
After potential delays pushing the flight of the satellite into next year, Amazon took advantage of one of its Atlas rockets to launch its first two Kuiper internet satellites to begin testing its service. This ended up being the third launch by ULA for 2023 and the 99th flight overall for the Atlas V.
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ULA is prepared to launch the first batch of Amazon Kuiper test satellites into orbit on the final Atlas V 501 rocket. The satellites, which were initially intended for Vulcan, have been mated with the rocket and enclosed in its payload fairing. Project Kuiper’s “Protoflight” mission is set to launch Friday with a window opening up at 2:00 P.M.
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A pension fund is suing Amazon over its contract to launch Kuiper satellites on Blue Origin, ULA, and Arianespace rockets because SpaceX was not included in the discussion. The suit argues that Bezos’ rivalry with Elon Musk created contracts that did not best meet the company’s fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders.
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Amazon is switching rockets for its inaugural Kuiper satellite launch while maintaining the same launch provider. In late September, two Kuiper test satellites are set to be launched into orbit aboard the second Atlas V launch of the year.
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Sometimes it’s good to be a competitor, and sometimes it’s nice to be a launch provider. SpaceX gets to be both and profit off its competitors. Amazon Senior Vice President Dave Limp said the company is also open to SpaceX’s capabilities to launch its Project Kuiper satellites.
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Amazon’s Project Kuiper is getting closer to becoming a reality as the company is preparing to launch its first satellites. Monday, the tech giant announced those first test satellites for Project Kuiper would be launched using ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket.
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Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s satellite-based Starlink internet service is called Project Kuiper, and now the company has secured flights on ULA’s Atlas V rocket. These launches will be the first of many to build out the constellation of 3,236 satellites.
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Amazon is one step closer to setting the stage for its planned Project Kuiper satellite internet service. The e-commerce giant revealed the design of the terminal antenna customers will use to connect the space-based internet service to their homes this week. Measuring 12-inches in diameter, Amazon touts an overall smaller terminal than legacy internet satellite antennas.
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