[CC may contain inaccuracies] Project Kuiper is supposed to be a competitor to SpaceX's Starlink.

Is it fair at this point to even call it a competitor?

Well, it aspires to be, but at the moment it's not there yet.

So, Starlink has more than 6,000 satellites operating, providing high-speed internet service around the world.

Amazon wants Project Kuiper to do something similar. The original goal was to have the first batch of operational satellites launch in the first half of this year, and by this time they would have data service starting.

They've encountered delays, though, in launching the satellites. They're now looking to launch the first batch of satellites early next year and then have service starting later in the year.

One big problem is that they have a deadline from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when they first got the license for this back in 2020.

They need to have half of their satellites—that's over 1,600 satellites—up and operating by the middle of July 2026.

If they don't meet that, then they're going to need the FCC to give them an extension, to give them a waiver.

One challenge is getting those satellites into orbit. Blue Origin is certainly a possibility.

But if they can't pull it off, can they rely on SpaceX to do this? Would that ever happen? Well, they do have a contract with SpaceX to launch on, I think, three SpaceX rockets.

Rockets, but that's just a tiny part of their total launch needs. So, for the most part, Amazon is looking to new rockets from Blue Origin, which is Jeff Bezos' founded company, as well as Europe's Arianespace and United Launch

Alliance, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The challenge, though, is that those three companies all have *new* rockets. Among the three of them, those rockets have launched a total of three times. So they don't really have a huge track record.

And it takes a while to get a rocket up and going on a frequent launch schedule. So it's a big challenge that they face. On the other hand, SpaceX, of course, has its own rockets. They don't have to worry about that, it seems.

Speaking of SpaceX, Elon Musk and President-elect Trump are extremely close after what happened over the last few months.  More than $200 million, Musk spent to help get Trump elected. How bad is that for Jeff Bezos? Well,

of course, Musk and the President-elect are very close. President Trump, during his first term, *did* have some run-ins with Jeff Bezos. There was some criticism from the President of Jeff Bezos, who, of course, owns The Washington Post.

Amazon *did* go to court in the first Trump administration alleging unfair treatment of the company, saying that they had been cut out of a contract with the Defense Department. So there *is* history there. More recently, we have seen pretty upbeat comments from Jeff Bezos about the President-elect and the new

Bezos Feuded With Trump, But Now Needs Help in Musk Space Race

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프로젝트 카이퍼와 스타링크를 비교하여 카이퍼의 지연과 과제를 강조합니다.

프로젝트 카이퍼는 스타링크와 경쟁하는 것을 목표로 하지만 위성 배치와 운영 상태에서는 뒤쳐져 있습니다.

스타링크는 6,000개 이상의 위성을 운영하며 글로벌 인터넷 서비스를 제공하는 반면, 카이퍼의 초기 발사 및 서비스 시작은 내년으로 연기되었습니다.

Kuiper는 2026년 중반까지 위성의 절반을 배치하거나 연장을 요청해야 하는 FCC의 시한에 직면해 있습니다.

Kuiper는 발사 경험이 제한적인 Blue Origin, Arianespace, United Launch Alliance의 새로운 로켓에 의존하고 있습니다.

프로젝트 카이퍼의 발사 도전과 새로운 로켓에 대한 의존도.

안정적인 출시 역량을 확보하는 것은 Kuiper의 성공을 위해 매우 중요합니다.

SpaceX와의 계약은 단 3번의 발사에 한정되어 있어 Kuiper의 전체 요구 사항에는 충분하지 않습니다.

선택한 발사 제공업체(Blue Origin, Arianespace, ULA)는 발사 이력이 제한적인 새로운 로켓을 보유하고 있어 Kuiper의 일정에 위험을 초래할 수 있습니다.

SpaceX의 확립된 발사 인프라는 검증되지 않은 발사 제공업체에 의존하는 Kuiper와 대조를 이룹니다.

일론 머스크, 제프 베조스, 차기 대통령과의 관계.

엘론 머스크와 제프 베조스 당선인과의 긴밀한 관계가 강조되면서, 이전 행정부와 제프 베조스 사이의 과거 긴장과는 대조적으로 주목받고 있습니다.

베조스에 대한 이전 행정부의 비판과 국방부 계약에 대한 아마존의 법적 도전이 언급됩니다.

최근 베조스가 새 행정부에 대해 긍정적인 발언을 한 것은 역학 관계의 잠재적 변화를 시사합니다.