United Launch Alliance aims to loft the first set of Amazon’s Project Kuiper production satellites this evening, April 28, aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket, but unsettled Florida weather looms over the attempt.
Launch provider ULA and the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron project a 75 percent chance of favorable conditions for liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex-41 during the two-hour window starting at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 UTC). This mission, Kuiper 1, kicks off the operational deployment phase for Amazon’s large low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband network, with countdown operations reported to be proceeding today.
Weather Watch Persists
The primary meteorological worries revolve around potential violations of the Cumulus Cloud Rule, Anvil Cloud Rules, and the Surface Electric Fields Rule, stemming from an approaching weak boundary expected to generate showers and isolated thunderstorms in the region. The weather team noted Sunday that “Although the steering flow appears likely to keep most thunderstorm activity away from the Cape, anvil clouds could be an issue.”
Should weather prevent the launch today, prospects improve significantly for the backup opportunity on Tuesday, April 29, which boasts a 90 percent ‘go’ forecast thanks to anticipated drier air moving into the Space Coast.
Path to the Pad
Getting Kuiper 1 ready for flight involved navigating previous launch scrubs and scheduling shifts. An earlier attempt on April 9 was called off due to poor weather, with ULA Launch Director Eric Richards stating at the time, “The stubborn cumulus clouds and persistent winds make liftoff not possible within the available window.”
The subsequent rescheduling involved securing necessary approvals from the U.S. Space Force, which ULA CEO Tory Bruno referred to as needing “Range availability.” The flight eventually landed on April 28 after briefly being listed as undetermined and then targeted for April 14. This Kuiper flight also advanced in ULA’s schedule, taking a slot originally considered for the USSF-106 mission, which ULA VP Gary Wentz indicated previously was not yet ready for launch.
Amazon’s Advanced Satellites Reach Orbit
While ground teams managed these schedule changes, Amazon prepared its advanced payload. The Atlas V carries 27 satellites, marking the first launch of Amazon’s finalized Kuiper satellite design. These units are distinct from two prototypes tested last year, featuring upgrades to key systems including their phased array antennas, processors, solar arrays, and optical inter-satellite links.
Project Kuiper VP Rajeev Badyal highlighted the mission’s significance before the prior attempt: “We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network. We’ve done extensive testing on the ground to prepare for this first mission, but there are some things you can only learn in flight, and this will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once.”
The satellites will initially be placed into a 280-mile (450 km) low Earth orbit (LEO)—an altitude regime below roughly 1,200 miles often used for low-latency communications—before using onboard electric propulsion systems (highly efficient thrusters using electricity to expel ions) to ascend to their operational altitude of 392 miles (630 km). Amazon has also included features like dielectric mirror film coatings intended to reduce satellite brightness, addressing concerns from the astronomy community.
Building a Global Broadband Network
Amazon’s Project Kuiper aims to establish a network exceeding 3,200 satellites primarily using Ka-band frequencies to offer global broadband, focusing on regions lacking reliable internet access. The company faces regulatory pressure from the FCC to deploy half its constellation (around 1,618 satellites) by mid-2026. While full deployment will take years, Amazon anticipates starting initial customer service once 578 satellites are active, potentially later this year.
This reported $153 million launch represents the first of 46 missions Amazon has booked with ULA (8 on Atlas V, 38 on Vulcan), part of a multi-billion dollar launch procurement strategy involving other providers. The ULA Atlas V 551, carrying what ULA describes as its heaviest payload ever within a 77-foot tall fairing, rolled out to the pad on April 25th. Launch coverage is set to begin with ULA’s live blog at 4 p.m. EDT, followed by the webcast at 6:35 p.m. EDT.
