I - FCC Authorizes Amazon to Deploy Internet Satellites
For more than a year now, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been planning to launch a broadband satellite internet service to rival the Starlink satellite constellation that SpaceX is building. This week, Amazon took a big step toward getting its project off the ground.
On Thursday, July 30, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission issued an "order and authorization" granting Amazon the right "to deploy a non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) system to provide service using certain Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) and Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) Ka-band frequencies."
As the FCC explained, Amazon's "Project Kuiper" satellite constellation holds the potential to "advance the public interest by [increasing] the availability of high-speed broadband service to consumers, government, and businesses."