Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will meet with the newly elected US President Donald Trump. This meeting is very important. Because there have been conflicts between Trump and Bezos before. They criticized each other during Trump's first term. But Bezos wants to maintain a good relationship with Trump to gain advantage in the space trade and stay ahead of the competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Bezos is likely to have an important meeting with Trump next week.
Bezos' Kuiper project is being developed as a rival to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service. However, the project activities have not yet started in full. Bezos was supposed to launch the first satellite by the end of 2024 under the Kuiper project. However, the satellite launch schedule has been delayed several times so far.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) says it plans to complete two very important Space Force missions by the end of next year. This may cause further delay in Kuiper satellite launch.
The Kuiper project could cost $20 billion to implement. But initially this cost was estimated at 10 billion.
Experts feel that the company should have more time and funds to launch this project successfully. Especially when the company aims to launch more than 1,600 satellites by 2026. However, Bezos may have to seek a special approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to meet the target within this timeframe.
But getting this approval could be challenging for Bezos' company due to the political context. The FCC's deadline for the Kuiper satellite is July 2026. Experts believe that if there is a majority of Republicans on the commission during that time, they could be a big obstacle for Bezos.
Amazon doesn't have its own rocket to compete with SpaceX. They plan to launch satellites with ULA's Atlas 5 rocket, European firm ArianeSpace, and Bezos' own startup Blue Origin.
Blue Origin's New Glen rocket is taking a long time to develop but the company is expected to test launch it soon. While ULA and Arianespace's rockets have had some success in testing, they still don't have the speedy launch capabilities of SpaceX.
Time is of the essence for Bezos. That's because Kuiper is looking to start operations by 2025, to meet the federal government's deadline. However, plans to build and launch the tools required for the Kuiper project have been pushed back time and time again.
In this scenario, competing with SpaceX is becoming increasingly difficult for Bezos. Many believe that satellite Internet will monopolize the market.
The success of the Kuiper project depends on its speedy launch of satellites. The Kuiper project plans to bring more than 3,200 satellites into operation by 2026. But the Trump administration's help could become crucial for Bezos amid this pressure.
Trump criticized Amazon during his first term. On the other hand, Bezos has also criticized some of Trump's statements in the past. Bezos-owned The Washington Post decided not to endorse any candidate in the November 2020 election.
Arguing for this decision, Bezos said, 'Many people think there is bias in the press. So the Washington Post and other newspapers need to increase their credibility.'
Jeff Bezos congratulated Trump on social media after winning the presidential election.
In addition, the e-commerce giant Amazon will donate one million dollars to the fund of the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump. The inaugural event will be telecast live on Amazon Prime Video. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the company's plan on Thursday evening.
Source: Bloomberg
