Amazon’s Starlink competitor runs into production delays

Amazon’s Project Kuiper, the company’s initiative to launch a fleet of satellites into low-Earth orbit and beam internet connection to users, is struggling to ramp up production, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink has completed only a few dozen satellites, according to the report. The venture reportedly needs to quadruple its rate of production in order to meet a government deadline, which requires the company to launch 1,600 satellites into space by next summer.

Project Kuiper seems to be a long way off from catching up with Starlink, which currently has roughly 8,000 satellites in orbit and more than 5 million customers, the report notes.

Besides production delays, Kuiper’s satellites have struggled to hitch a ride into space due to rocket launch delays, which are common for the space industry. A launch scheduled for earlier this month was called off due to weather and is now rescheduled for next week.