Featured Image Credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / Contributor / Getty
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) over the past few years, and Amazon has just made a potentially significant statement with an acquisition worth $11 billion in total.
SpaceX is to the satellite world like Tesla is for electric vehicles, as of the roughly 15,000 satellites currently orbiting our planet, around 10,200 (approximately 65 per cent) are operated by Elon Musk's company.
That does pose the potential risk of catastrophe as his company have had to adjust the placement of thousands of these satellites to avoid dangerous collisions, yet it still has room for plenty more up in the air with plans approved for up to 42,000 active vessels.
Musk isn't the only player in the game, however, and some of the world's biggest companies are also looking to make a statement in space with operations of their own.
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As reported by the BBC, chief among these is Amazon as the shopping and tech giant has just spent a lot of money acquiring one of SpaceX's biggest rivals in a move worth $11.57 billion.
The company has been working on what it calls 'Amazon Leo' for a number of years now, with plans to deploy a large satellite constellation with the capacity to supply low-latency broadband from space.
In acquiring Globalstar – the company currently handling Apple's satellite messaging service, which many have branded a game-changer – Amazon Leo is officially off the ground in a statement that'll be hard for Musk and SpaceX to ignore.
Globalstar currently only has around 50 satellites in active orbit around Earth, which pales in comparison with both the current SpaceX numbers and the 'thousands' that Amazon hope to control in the coming years, but it's a step in the right direction that could encourage significant competition in an area that's currently dominated by one entity.
It's expected to dramatically increase its satellite presence by 2028, and this move could prove to be the one that catapults Amazon into the big leagues, especially as they're taking on Globalstar's existing services and partnerships.
Ironically, one of its other big competitors is Amazon's co-founder Jeff Bezos who launched his own private space agency Blue Origin back in 2000 while he was still in charge of the business.
Blue Origin currently has no operational satellites in LEO, but it's TeraWave network – announced in earlier this year in January – outlines plans to deploy 5,408 satellites late next year, alongside the approval of a constellation totalling 51,600 satellites for the purpose of AI-based orbital computing.
