On November 2, Kuiper systems, a satellite subsidiary of Amazon, confirmed that it would launch two prototype satellites by the end of 2022, which is the first attempt of its plan to invest US $10 billion to build a space satellite Internet plan in low earth orbit. But compared with SpaceX, Amazon's action is nearly four years late < p > Kuiper systems published a blog post saying: "we have submitted a report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Submitted an experimental license application to launch, deploy and operate two prototype satellites for project Kuiper. These actions are crucial to enable us to test the design and networking technology used on our final satellite and help us verify the launch operations and mission management procedures that will be used when deploying the entire network. "< / P > < P > Kuiper systems also said, Kuipersat-1 and kuipersat-2 will be launched on the RS1 rocket manufactured by ABL space systems in the fourth quarter of 2022. Dan Piemont, the founder and President of ABL, said in an email that the company plans to conduct its first RS1 test flight before the end of the year. < / P > < p > Rajeev badyal, vice president of technology of project Kuiper, said: "All systems have been well tested in simulation and laboratory environments, and we can soon see their performance in space. On orbit testing is very important. Considering the complexity and risks of operating in such a challenging environment, we expect to learn a lot. We can't wait to start." < / P > < p > Amazon described some details of how the satellite communicates with the user terminal in the document submitted to the FCC: "Kuiper systems' satellites will be equipped with three phased array antennas for the customer terminal link, two for transmitting data and one for receiving data. Each phased array antenna will generate an independent steerable beam to track the customer terminal throughout the satellite transmission process. These satellites will transmit multiple 100MHz wide carriers in the 17.8 to 18.6ghz frequency band The 28.6 to 29.1ghz band receives transmissions from the customer terminal. When the satellite is located above the minimum elevation of the customer terminal ground station of 35 degrees, the satellite customer terminal beam will be enabled. " < / P > < p > Amazon previously said that it is expected to launch any satellite as early as 2023. The launch of the prototype satellite next year will not change the schedule of its mass production satellite. Generally, the mass production satellite may not be officially launched until the test version of the satellite runs for one year or more. < / P > < p > SpaceX launched two test satellites for the star chain system in February 2018 and launched them in May 2019 The first batch of 60 mass production satellites were launched. The company started public testing of the satellite chain Internet in October 2020, and the service has just exited the testing program in the past few days. < / P > < p > If Amazon follows a similar schedule, its first batch of mass production satellites will be launched in late 2023 or early 2024 and will be put into practical use in 2025. < / P > < p > in the document submitted to the FCC, Amazon The company has more than 750 employees working at Kuiper systems, up from about 500 a few months ago, and plans to "add hundreds of employees in the next year" < / P > < p > after launching two planned prototype satellites, Amazon said it would collect performance, diagnostic and telemetry data from the satellite bus and payload components and from its ground station antenna (including customer terminal, gateway and TT & C ground station) Collect data. < / P > < p > Amazon's goal is to promote space broadband Internet to consumers. At present, it is facing from Elon Musk Companies such as SpaceX, INMARSAT and oneweb under its control compete fiercely for similar systems. < / P > < p > among them, SpaceX's star chain Internet has been operating in many countries, including Europe and South America. Oneweb, owned by the British government and Bharti global in India, said it would provide global coverage before the end of 2022. INMARSAT's low earth orbit space Internet, called Orchestra, aims to enhance 5g network Capacity, especially for offshore customers. < / P > < p > in July this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Approved Kuiper systems' space Internet plan, which plans to launch more than 3200 satellites to provide low latency broadband Internet coverage for the earth's surface. < / P > < p > in recent months, Kuiper systems and SpaceX have been shelling each other through documents submitted to the FCC. Amazon believes that Musk's space company does not meet regulatory requirements. < / P > < p > in the latest report In the document submitted, Kuiper systems said that the two experimental satellites would travel 367 miles (590 kilometers) The company's tests must first be approved by the FCC before operating the two prototype satellites. < / P > < p > in addition to announcing the launch of the prototype satellite, Kuiper systems also tried to assure the space community that the company would try to mitigate any harmful effects of its satellites. Previously, many people criticized such large space Internet satellite projects, including leading to The low earth orbit environment is more crowded, increasing the possibility of collision and making it more difficult to launch satellites in the future. Kuiper systems said that after completing the test, it will send the prototype satellite into the earth's atmosphere and burn it there, so as to get it out of orbit. < / P > < p > Kuiper systems also said that the company has always been working with astronomers and other companies in the industry to reduce its satellite cost Visibility of satellites. Astronomers are concerned about the rise of the satellite Internet because bright satellites will cause more interference in the observation of the night sky. To help reduce the brightness of the satellite, Kuiper systems installed a sunshade on one of the two prototypes to reduce its ability to reflect sunlight. The company said: "We will collect data to compare the reflectivity between the two satellites and share any research results with the astronomical community after the mission is completed." SpaceX has launched more than 1000 sunshade satellites to reduce their brightness. (small) < / P > < p >