Amazon taps SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to help launch Kuiper satellites

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission, taking four crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., August 26, 2023. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

(Reuters) -Amazon on Friday said it booked three Falcon 9 launches with Elon Musk's SpaceX to help deploy the ecommerce giant's Project Kuiper satellite network, tapping a rival in the satellite internet business for its multi-billion dollar launch campaign.

Amazon aims to build Kuiper as a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit to beam broadband internet globally and compete with SpaceX's Starlink network, which already has some 5,000 satellites providing nearly global coverage.