Amazon has announced plans to launch two satellites at the end of 2022.

Project Kuiper is a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation which the technology giant said will provide affordtable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world.

On Monday Amazon filed an experimental license application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch, deploy, and operate two prototype satellites for the project.

According to the company, these satellites —KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2—are an important step in the development process as they allow the business to test the communications and networking tech that will be used in its final statellite design.

"We’ve invented lots of new technology to meet our cost and performance targets for Project Kuiper,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper. “All of the systems are testing well in simulated and lab settings, and we’ll soon be ready to see how they perform in space.
“There is no substitute for on-orbit testing, and we expect to learn a lot given the complexity and risk of operating in such a challenging environment. We can’t wait to get started."

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