Overview
- The Atlas V 551 lifted 29 Amazon Leo broadband satellites from Cape Canaveral during a 29-minute window that opened at 12:24 a.m. EDT on Thursday, and the 45th Weather Squadron forecast an 85 percent chance of favorable weather for the attempt.
- This mission was the last Atlas V in the 551 configuration and leaves six Atlas V rockets in reserve that are slated to fly Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
- With these deployments completed, Amazon has about 396 Leo satellites in low Earth orbit and says it has enough launches in place to begin early commercial service before the end of 2026 as teams raise the new satellites to their assigned altitudes.
- Amazon is using a mix of launch providers to build its roughly 3,200-satellite network, and delays to newer vehicles such as ULA’s Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn have increased near-term reliance on remaining Atlas V, SpaceX Falcon 9 and Arianespace Ariane 6 flights.
- The growing fleet is already attracting customers for enterprise use and the recent Ariane 6 booster upgrades that raised payload capacity could speed future launch cadence, which in turn would expand coverage and capacity for users on the ground.