The Jeff Bezos-backed Project Kuiper rival to Starlink is readying its KF-03 batch of 24 satellites for launch today [October 9th], subject to the usual last-minute weather and technical considerations.

According to weather officials, there’s a 55 per cent chance of favourable weather conditions at the time of the launch. Officials are monitoring weather conditions with concerns related to Cumulus Cloud Rule, Lightning Rule, Surface Electric Field Rule.

SpaceX is launching the satellite from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Liftoff is targeted for 9:34pm (ET) with additional opportunities available until 11:48pm (ET). If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on October 10th starting at 9:12pm (ET)

This will be the second flight for the Falcon 9 first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched KF-02. After stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Project Kuiper is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access managed by Kuiper Systems, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,236 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km, and 630 km altitude.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: Jeff Bezos, Project Kuiper, starlink