23.04.2025
Amazon satellite launch rescheduled for April 28 on ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral
After a weather-related scrub earlier this month, United Launch Alliance crews have rescheduled the first launch of Amazon's Project Kuiper production satellites into low-Earth orbit for April 28.
The Atlas V rocket is scheduled for liftoff at 7 p.m., the opening of a two-hour launch window, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This rocket is equipped with five solid rocket boosters for added liftoff power — the 27 satellites represent the heaviest payload the rocket has ever flown.
What is Project Kuiper? The upcoming liftoff will kick off a full-scale deployment of more than 3,200 satellites delivering high-speed internet around the world to customer terminal antennas.
"Over the next few years, Kuiper and ULA teams will conduct seven more Atlas V launches and 38 launches on ULA’s larger Vulcan Centaur rocket," an Amazon blog post said.
"An additional 30-plus launches are planned across our other launch providers: Arianespace, Blue Origin, and SpaceX," the post said.
The Atlas V was originally scheduled to launch on April 9 — a gusty, overcast day at Cape Canaveral — but encroaching cumulus clouds forced a scrub.
Amazon reported more than 2,000 people are working on Project Kuiper.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update>: 29.04.2025
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ULA, SpaceX launch back-to-back broadband missions for Amazon, Starlink internet constellations
Foreshadowing the future, two rockets lifted a combined 50 broadband satellites for two rival space-based internet companies into low-Earth orbit Monday, April 28, from Florida's Space Coast — and both rockets launched within a 3½-hour span.
The landmark evening saw a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket deploy Amazon's first production batch of 27 Project Kuiper broadband satellites. The mission was the first of dozens in the coming years to create a 3,232-satellite constellation to provide high-speed internet around the world.
The Atlas V lifted off at 7:01 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Afterward, at 10:34 p.m., SpaceX's sprawling Starlink constellation — the undisputed global satellite internet leader — added 23 more satellites via a Falcon 9 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
ULA's mission marked the first of the company's 46 planned launches for Amazon and its Project Kuiper. Seven more are planned using Atlas V rockets before ULA transitions to Vulcan rockets for the next 38 launches.
"We had a nice, smooth countdown. Beautiful weather. Beautiful liftoff. And Atlas V is on its way to orbit to take those 27 Kuiper satellites, put them on their way, and really start this new era in internet connectivity," Caleb Weiss, ULA launch commentator, said minutes after the April 28 liftoff during the company webcast.
"So Atlas is on its way to making history again," Weiss said.
However, in a video posted shortly after liftoff, Laura Forczyk, founder and executive director of the space consulting firm Astralytical, said "it's going to be a long, long time before Kuiper is at any way competitive with Starlink." Noting that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Project Kuiper has been in the works since 2019, she expressed doubts that commercial service will start by year's end.
"So this is six years that Amazon has been working on this. It does take a while to ramp up. It's taking a lot longer than I think a lot of people anticipated," Forczyk said
By comparison, Forczyk noted that Elon Musk's SpaceX notched its 250th dedicated Starlink launch Sunday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX added two more Starlink missions Monday: one from the Cape, one from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
"Bottom line, Kuiper is way over-delayed. But I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference, simply because there is such demand for this kind of service that I think Kuiper's going to find their way," Forczyk said.
In October 2023, an Atlas V launched Amazon's first two prototype satellites, KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2, from the Cape for on-orbit testing.
"Project Kuiper has announced collaborations with Verizon, Vodafone, Vodacom, and NTT DOCOMO to help extend the reach of their wireless networks; signed a distribution agreement with DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil to reach more customers in South America; and has been awarded contracts from government agencies like NASA, DARPA, and the Defense Innovation Unit," an Amazon fact sheet said.
Quelle: Florida Today