United Launch Alliance successfully launched the first 27 Amazon satellites into orbit on Monday, after previous missions were canceled nearly three weeks ago due to adverse weather conditions in Florida.
Kuiper-1 launched at 7:01 p.m. ET from Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch window was two hours long and could have been pushed back to the next day if the weather or technical issues continued.
About 3.5 hours later, at 10:34 p.m., SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites, 13 of which could directly communicate with the cellular network, from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center nearby.
ULA has established a 10-mile radius around the launch area to account for weather conditions.
Earlier in the day, ULA said launch conditions were rated 70% favorable.
The 106.5-foot Atlas 551 booster launched 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit at an altitude of 280 miles, providing high-speed internet access to millions of users around the world. Shortly after, the booster's first stage separated before leaving Earth's atmosphere.
This was the 250th flight of the Centaur upper stage on an Atlas rocket.
The Atlas V 551 rocket, manufactured by General Dynamics, features five solid rocket boosters mounted on its sides and a mid-length payload fairing, according to ULA. The rocket components were assembled in a vertical integration facility located near the launch pad.
Atlas Centaur launches include eight missions to Mars.
Amazon plans to launch 3,232 Kuiper satellites into orbit by 2029, half of which by mid-2026.
In February 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration gave approval for the entire Kuiper project after ULA addressed the risks posed by orbital debris.
Last week, ULA President and CEO Tony Bruno said the company is planning the next Kuiper Atlas launch for late spring or early summer. The first national security mission using the Vulcan rocket is also planned.
In October 2023, ULA launched two prototype Kuiper satellites into orbit for testing.
The satellites are built by Amazon in Kirkland, Washington.
“We have developed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and each launch provides an opportunity to expand our network capacity and coverage,” said Rajiv Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper, in a pre-launch blog post. “We have conducted extensive ground testing in preparation for this first mission, but some aspects can only be learned in flight, and this will be the first time we have launched our final satellite design and deployed so many satellites at once.”
Rival SpaceX has already launched 7,000 Starlink satellites into orbit for more than 5 million subscribers, while Eutelsat OneWeb is also entering the low-Earth orbit satellite market to provide internet services.
United Launch Alliance LLC was founded in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
ULA Launches Atlas V Rocket to Deliver Amazon Payload
Sourse: www.upi.com
