Amazon’s Starlink rival Project Kuiper is reportedly way behind schedule

Amazon’s Project Kuiper is reportedly way behind schedule, according to an . This is the company’s satellite internet service, which intends to rival SpaceX and Starlink. The issue seems to be one of scale, as the company has had trouble increasing production of the actual satellites.

The reporting indicates that the Kuiper team has only managed to manufacture a few dozen of these satellites. As a comparison, there are currently . The initial production of the Kuiper satellites was delayed until the tail-end of last year, so Amazon hasn’t had too much time to ramp things up.

Beta testing didn’t start until earlier this year. Amazon on April 8 for 27 satellites, but that got delayed until April 28.

Project Kuiper hopes to eventually provide broadband connectivity to at least 400 million households, in addition to . However, it needs to launch over 3,000 satellites to reach that goal. Additionally, it secured a government contract with a deadline to put 1,600 satellites in orbit by next summer. Insiders suggest that it will probably have to seek an extension from the FCC.

“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and our primary objective is to build and launch enough of them to begin delivering service to customers later this year,” an Amazon spokesperson . “Our manufacturing schedule is on track to support this target, and we’ll continue to increase our production and launch rates as we begin a full-scale deployment of our network.”

It did manage to launch a pair of prototype satellites . This was followed by successful tests of an that linked the two satellites in low Earth orbit.

The company is scheduled to conduct a number of launches throughout the year, with help from Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will handle the April 28 launch. Amazon hasn’t indicated why satellite production has hit this hiccup. We reached out to the company and will update this post when we learn more.