Facebook's satellite connectivity team switches over to Amazon's Project Kuiper

A schematic shows the design for the phased-array antennas to be used for Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband network. (Amazon Graphic) Facebook has struck a deal to have more than a dozen of its wireless internet experts move over to Amazon to work on its Project Kuiper satellite broadband network, The Information reported today. An Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire that the report was accurate. Such a deal represents another step in Amazon’s efforts to get its Kuiper operation up and running — and try to catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation, which already has more than more than 1,600 satellites in orbit and is expanding its beta program. Amazon has vowed to spend more than $10 billion to get Project Kuiper off the ground. Under the terms of an authorization order issued by the Federal Communications Commission last July, Amazon has to have half of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation launched by mid-2026, and the rest by mid-2029. Like Starlink, Project Kuiper is aimed at making broadband connectivity available to billions of people around the world who are currently underserved. But the satellite networks could have other applications: For example, the U.S. Army and Air Force are testing Starlink as…
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