Amazon Partners with Türkiye for Kuiper Satellite Production: What’s Behind the Shift?

Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon has gone into a strategic partnership with Turkish precision machining company Tezmaksan. This partnership will aid both parties in the manufacturing of satellite components in Türkiye for use in Amazon’s project Kuiper efforts.

Why?

Already, Amazon manufactures satellite parts in the US and Mexico, however, all of that is about to change with this new partnership. With Tezmaksan in the picture, Amazon will push all its satellite part manufacturing efforts to Türkiye.

The main reason cited for this move by Amazon is access to more efficient work and reduction of production costs. There are a total of four areas that this new partnership highlights.

These areas are production scale, key location, timeline, and economic impact. Regarding the production scale, Amazon and Tezmaksan will produce 1500 satellite components in key locations across Türkiye like Sivas, Yozgat, Tokat, and Kayseri.

According to the production timeline, the first deliveries of satellite components will be completed in early 2025. Lastly, the economic impact of this project will be reflected in the development of a second factory by Tezmaksan in Sivas, Türkiye.

Speaking of this partnership, Tezmaksan CEO Hakan Aydogdu explains that this partnership will help Amazon “launch 1,300 compact satellites to provide internet access worldwide.” He adds that “Supply chain issues in China and high production costs in Mexico, coupled with Türkiye’s affordability and expertise in robotic systems, made Türkiye the ideal choice.”

Amazon Project Kuiper To Use Turkish-Designed Satellite Parts

In October 2023 Amazon officially entered the internet satellite business by announcing their project Kuiper. This project aims at the launch of 3,200 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) to help provide high-speed internet to its customers.

Amazon is under some pressure from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to launch and kick off the operation of about 1600 of its satellites by 2026. A few months ago it was announced that Amazon was to kick off the launching of some of its satellites by Q4 2024.

With the year gradually coming to an end, Amazon might just move the launch of its Kuiper satellites to 2025. By next year, Amazon and Tezmaksan will start rolling out the necessary components for the assembly of Kuiper satellites.

According to the agreement between Amazon and Tezmaksan, Türkiye will be responsible for the handling of all 1,500 satellite parts by 2025. This will not only boost the Amazon project Kuiper launch efforts but also put Türkiye on the space industry map.