A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched 29 of Amazon's internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday night, April 27, lifting off at 8:53 p.m. EDT and reaching low Earth orbit in a mission ULA called Amazon Leo 6.
The satellites separated in 10 deployments, with the first beginning about 21 minutes after launch and ending 16 minutes later. The flight tied the Atlas V’s heaviest-payload mark by carrying 29 Amazon Leo spacecraft, matching the 18-ton record set by Amazon Leo 5 on April 4.
The mission matters because Amazon Leo is moving from a concept to a real constellation at speed. Formerly known as Project Kuiper, the broadband network is meant to rival SpaceX’s Starlink, and Monday’s launch became the sixth Amazon Leo mission ULA has flown. The Atlas V has now carried six of the 10 Amazon Leo launches to date, while SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has flown three and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 has flown one.
What comes next is larger still. Amazon Leo is expected to grow to more than 3,200 satellites if plans hold, and more than 80 launches by several rocket families will be needed to assemble it. Another launch is already on deck: Arianespace’s Ariane 6 is scheduled to lift off with an Amazon Leo mission from French Guiana early on Wednesday morning, April 29.
The neat math of Monday’s flight hides the hard part ahead. Amazon has now put 29 satellites into space on April 4 and another 29 on Monday, but the constellation will not be finished with a handful of successful launches. It will be built one deployment at a time, over dozens more lifts and across several rockets, before the service it is aiming for can reach scale.