Amazon has at last deployed a satellite, with the first two Project Kuiper units launched into space on the back of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. The low-earth orbit (LEO) units were installed at an orbit of 500 km (311 miles), and will carry out validation tests for the broadband network, before being deorbited in a couple of years. It has not been smooth sailing for Kuiper. Amazon was misguided in hitching its wagon to unproven launch vehicles, but its attempt to avoid dependence on rival SpaceX is strategic. All those years ago, Amazon’s former CEO Jeff Bezos was full of enthusiasm for his Blue Origin rocketry side-gig. But Blue Origin’s rocket engines have been significantly delayed,…