The tech giants continue their race for orbit.

This Tuesday, the e-commerce monster Amazon announced unprecedented contracts with three space launch companies, including Europe's Arianespace.

In total, Jeff Bezos' company is ordering 83 satellite launches for its constellation intended for high-speed internet.

Eighteen of these launches will be carried out by Ariane 6, an “absolutely massive” figure which will allow the future launcher to almost triple its order book, the companies indicated on the sidelines of a space congress in Colorado (western United States). ).

A constellation of 3,236 satellites

The American juggernaut of online sales, which is diversifying in particular into IT services, formalized on Tuesday morning "the signing of agreements with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) for the supply of launch services as part of Project Kuiper, Amazon's initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit, about 600 km above sea level.

“The contracts provide for up to 83 launches over a five-year period, allowing Amazon to deploy the majority of its constellation of 3,236 satellites,” the company said in a statement, claiming “the largest commercial acquisition of launchers ever. Of the history ".

ULA and Blue Origin land the most launches

ULA won the largest share of contracts, with 38 launches.

This joint venture between the American giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which operates from Cape Canaveral in Florida (south-east), will invest to have a second platform on this emblematic site of space history and which will allow "operations at a high rate” for its Vulcan Centaur heavy launcher.

For its part, Blue Origin, which like Amazon was founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was awarded 37 launches, including 15 as options for its giant New Glenn launcher.

But Blue Origin will also benefit from the ULA part of the contract since it builds the Vulcan Centaur engines.

"Great moment in the history" of Arianespace

The only non-American player in these agreements, Arianespace, responsible for marketing European launchers, is therefore entrusted with 18 launches, "a great moment in the history" of the company, commented its executive chairman, Stéphane Israel, quoted in the press release.

They will be carried out by Ariane 6, the new launcher manufactured like Ariane 5 at Les Mureaux in the Paris region, and which must carry out its first qualification launch at the end of the year.

The contract almost triples the backlog of Ariane 6, which so far stood at 11 launches.

Six shots per year

“For the 18 of us, it was the right number, both we wanted something absolutely massive and it is, it is by far the most important contract we have ever signed, and at the same time we obviously wanted to keep our commitments and keep availability for other customers ”, in addition to the four annual launches intended for the European institutions, explained Stéphane Israël to AFP.

Neither the amount of the contract nor the start of its implementation have been specified by Amazon or Arianespace.

But Stéphane Israel said he expected "six [shots] per year over three years".

Each Ariane 6 will carry around 35 satellites from the Kuiper constellation, he said.

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