Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) is a constellation of communications satellites operated by the United States Space Force. Image: artist rendering of an AEHF.
An upcoming rocket launch is scheduled to begin placing a network of 3-thousand satellites into space.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper intends to improve internet service, but it will also add more objects into already crowded spots in Earth's orbit.
University of Arizona planetary scientist Vishnu Reddy notes that orbital congestion is a growing concern.
“Every time a satellite runs out of gas, we let it go and launch a new satellite, under the assumption that space is vast. We are getting to a point that certain orbital regimes are getting crowded,” he said.
Communications, weather, and military satellites all occupy geo-stationary orbits, meaning they are locked into one spot in line with the Earth’s natural rotation. Reddy says those slots are so popular among international and commercial space customers that once an old satellite is de-orbited and sent to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, another one is launched to take its place.
The Project Kuiper satellites are targeted for low Earth orbit, and Reddy explains that private companies like Amazon have a motive to limit congestion. He says it's smart business to keep slots available by de-orbiting defunct satellites as soon as their mission is over.
“So, it becomes a value proposition. The commercial companies are responsible because they need to make money.”
Sky-tracking astronomers say Elon Musk's Starlink program has begun to "retire" hundreds of its small, first-generation communications satellites. Amazon, run by billionaire Jeff Bezos, intends to provide competition for Musk's satellite internet business.
Amazon named its project after the Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system known to be crowded with dwarf planets and comets. The Kuiper Belt is named after former University of Arizona professor, Gerald Kuiper.
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