Online retail giant Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is setting up a satellite processing plant at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to Reuters. The $120 million facility is for the company’s Kuiper project and is part of its $10 billion planned outlay for 3,200 LEO (low earth orbit) satellites aimed at providing broadband connectivity worldwide.
The Kuiper project is expected to complement the company’s sprawling web services vertical and could go toe-to-toe with Elon Musk’s Starlink. While Amazon’s satellites will be produced at its Redmond, Washington facility, they will begin the voyage into space after a visit to the Florida facility.
The setup of the Florida facility began earlier this year and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Amazon is aiming to begin processing the satellites in H1 2025 with ambitions to have half the fleet in orbit by 2026. Additionally, the first prototypes are anticipated to be launched by the end of 2023.
Overall, the Street has a $144.65 consensus price target on Amazon alongside a Strong Buy consensus rating. Shares of the company have surged nearly 32.8% over the past six months.
Read full Disclosure
