United Launch Alliance Archives - Page 2 of 3

June 23, 2025

Atlas V and Kuiper KA-02 Rises With Monday Sun From Canaveral

Atlas V lifts off on June 23, 2025 through the hazy early morning light.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Under clear, hot skies this morning, United Launch Alliance launched one of their fifteen remaining Atlas V rockets carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Launch was at 6:54 AM from LC-41 at Cape Canaveral and by all appearances, it was a nominal flight for the veteran rocket. This was the 103rd launch for an Atlas V which entered service on August 21, 2002. All missions save one have been successful, and that mission was a partial success on Atlas V’s first launch.

Today’s launch was the second attempt for this mission. On June 16th, the countdown was halted due to an engine problem, necessitating a return trip to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility, located at LC-37, for repairs. Once the issues were remediated, the rocket and the weather both cooperated flawlessly in today’s countdown, leading to the launch at the opening of the launch window.

Atlas V rising with the sun on June 23, 2025
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Today’s mission will place 27 Kuiper satellites into orbit, making 54 of the planned 3,236 satellites in 98 orbital planes across three orbital shells at altitudes of 590 km, 610 km, and 630 km. Those satellites that will comprise the constellation Amazon is planning for Internet connectivity services. While Amazon has thousands of satellites left on the manifest to launch for Project Kuiper, the company has stated that they plan to start providing internet service later this year.

“We are proud to continue our strong partnership with Amazon and empower their mission to bridge the digital divide through reliable satellite technology,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “ULA, working as a catalyst to global connectivity in collaboration with Amazon, enables delivery of these critical satellites designed to drive innovation and connect the world.”

The flight path of Atlas V carrying Project Kuiper’s KA-2 payload.
Graphic: Charles Boyer / Google Earth

At 8:02 AM ET, ULA announced that they had placed the payload into a successful orbit, marking the operational end of the mission.

Kuiper is planned to compete against SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service, which is already far ahead both in terms of satellites on orbit (Starlink has over 7,000, with their number increasing with as many as three launches per week) and customers (Starlink has over six million customers in over 100 countries and territories worldwide.) While Starlink has a massive head start, Amazon is hoping to play the hare to SpaceX’s rabbit and to provide a viable source of competition to the SpaceX product as soon as is possible.

ULA’s next launch is the first Vulcan mission for the U.S. Space Force, USSF-106.

Payload

Not much is known about the appearance of the Kuiper satellite, as Amazon has kept a tight lid on the information released about the physical appearance of their orbital platforms.

Next Launch

Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX plans to launch another group of Starlink satellites from SLC-40.

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10‑16 Mission Details

Mission	Falcon 9 Block 5 \| Starlink Group 10‑16
Organization	SpaceX
Location	Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5
Pad	Space Launch Complex 40
Status	To Be Confirmed
Status Info	Awaiting official confirmation – current date is known with some certainty.
Window Opens	Wednesday, 06/25/2025 12:33:00 PM EDT
Window Closes	Wednesday, 06/25/2025 4:33:00 PM EDT
Destination	Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description	A batch of satellites for the Starlink mega‑constellation – SpaceX’s project for a space‑based Internet communication system.

June 23, 2025

United Launch Alliance Atlas V, Kuiper KA-02, June 23, 2025

Under clear, hot skies this morning, United Launch Alliance launched one of their fifteen remaining Atlas V rockets carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Launch was at 6:54 AM from LC-41 at Cape Canaveral and by all appearances, it was a nominal flight for the veteran rocket. This was the 103rd launch for the venerable rocket. The first Atlas V launch was on August 21, 2002.

June 16, 2025

Amazon Launching 27 Kuiper Satellites Today

Atlas V with the Kuiper 2 payload at LC-41. Photo: United Launch Alliance

Amazon’s satellite internet project, Kuiper, will continue its deployment today with the planned launch of the Kuiper K-02 mission at 1:25 PM ET aboard an United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 551 rocket. This mission will deliver 27 operational satellites into low Earth orbit, adding to the 27 satellites deployed earlier this year in April.

The Kuiper project is Amazon’s initiative to provide broadband internet service through a constellation of satellites. Today’s launch is the second of a series that aims to meet the conditions set by the Federal Communications Commission, which require half of the planned 3,236 satellites to be in orbit by mid-2026. The full network is expected to be completed by mid-2029.

The Atlas V 551 rocket, used for this launch, is among ULA’s more powerful configurations. It includes five solid rocket boosters and a medium payload fairing.

Following deployment, the satellites will be elevated from their initial orbit of approximately 450 kilometers to an operational altitude of around 630 kilometers. From this position, they will begin supporting future broadband service coverage as part of Amazon’s long-term strategy to enter the satellite internet market.

Operational Strategy and Technology Capabilities

Each satellite in the Kuiper constellation is equipped with propulsion and communication technologies to maintain orbit and link with both ground stations and other satellites. The system includes inter-satellite laser links, which allow the satellites to pass data directly between one another. These optical links are designed to support high-throughput connections, improving the flexibility and resilience of the network.

The K-02 mission represents the continued transition from prototype to full-scale operations. The first launch in April tested Amazon’s satellite bus and operational model. With K-02, Amazon is moving forward with production models that are expected to serve as a foundational layer of the broader constellation. The mission is part of a deployment strategy that includes multiple launch providers and vehicle types, including upcoming launches on ULA’s Vulcan Centaur, SpaceX Falcon 9, and the European Ariane 6.

Amazon has publicly committed more than $10 billion to the development and deployment of the Kuiper constellation. The company is building out supporting infrastructure in tandem with the satellites, including user terminals and ground communication sites. The terminals, developed in-house, are designed to be compact and cost-effective. Amazon has said these terminals will support download speeds up to 400 Mbps and will be priced under $400, though full commercial service has not yet begun.

In the near term, newly launched satellites will undergo a series of health and status checks, after which their thrusters will be used to reach final orbit. Amazon’s Kuiper operations team, based in Redmond, Washington, is managing the process, which includes positioning, testing communication links, and preparing the satellites to eventually join the active broadband network.

Trajectory

Northeast.

Weather

April 29, 2025

Launch Report: ULA Launches Atlas V – Kuiper KA-01

Summer is nearly back on the Space Coast, with warm temperatures and a persistent threat of rain in the afternoon and evenings — typical weather here, and it will stay this way for several months. That being said, Atlas V was able to beat the weather last night and launched at the opening of its window, with liftoff at 7:01 PM ET after an apparently quiet countdown, save for some concerns about the energy potential of a nearby anvil cloud (Cumulonimbus incus) lingering near the launch pad before dissipating.

The launch carried 27 Amazon Kuiper satellites to orbit. These were the first operational units of Amazon’s planned Internet service constellation, which is planned to feature some 3,236 units when fully built out.

For more information about Project Kuiper, click here.

Atlas V was outfitted in its 551 configuration, meaning it had five GEM 63 solid rockets strapped onto the booster for additional lift. It also had a five-meter fairing, the largest used on the venerable member of ULA’s stable. Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA, calls this setup “The Bruiser” and that’s an apt name: it’s a big rocket and has a lot of power. Good thing, because yesterday, Atlas V carried the most weight to orbit in 155 missions so far.

Atlas V Kuiper KA-01 in flight
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

The launch was nominal, as was the flight to orbit. At 7:18 Tory Bruno announced on X.com that the payload was in orbit, and later, after deployment, Project Kuiper posted that it had established communications with all 27 Kuiper satellites. With that, the mission was a full success.

Launch Replay

Next Launch

Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 6-75 Mission Details

Mission	Falcon 9 Block 5 \| Starlink Group 6-75
Organization	SpaceX
Location	Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket	Falcon 9 Block 5
Pad	Space Launch Complex 40
Status	To Be Confirmed
Status Info	Awaiting official confirmation – current date is known with some certainty.
Window Opens	Wednesday, 04/30/2025 10:17:00 PM EDT
Window Closes	Thursday, 05/01/2025 2:48:00 AM EDT
Destination	Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description	A batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for a space-based Internet communication system.

Please note that the launch window times are provided in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

For the most current information regarding the launch schedule and status, please refer to official updates from SpaceX.com

Atlas V’s ascent path was illustrated clearly by a plume trail from the rocket’s SRBs
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

April 9, 2025

ULA Set To Launch Atlas V and Amazon Kuiper KA-01 This Evening (Scrubbed, Winds)

A file photo of an Atlas V lifting off from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral

UPDATE: the launch was scrubbed due to offshore weather and also heavy winds throughout the launch window. The next attempt is penciled in for Monday, April 14, between 7:00PM and 11:34 PM EDT.

United Launch Alliance is set to launch and Atlas V 551 this evening from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 7:00 PM ET and closes again at 9:00 PM the same day.

This will be ULA’s first launch this year. The company is winding down Atlas V launches, with only fifteen remaining, tonight’s launch included. ULA also recently retired Delta IV Heavy, and launched the last one a year ago today. The company is moving towards its Vulcan rocket, which it has launched twice. Vulcan recently received USSL certification for its new Vulcan rocket, which is now awaiting payloads prior to its next flight.

As is customary with Atlas V, all stages are expendable, so there will be no landing and retrieval of the booster. After its job is done for the day, it will crash into the ocean and sleep with the fishes.

For More Coverage of Amazon Kuiper Project, click here.

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Delta 45 has posted their Launch Mission Execution Forecast, and they are rating the chances of a weather violation at 45% on Wednesday April 9, with chances dropping drastically to only a 10% chance of weather being an issue on Thursday.

Trajectory

Northeast. Depending on when Atlas V launches, it may put on quite a show. Local sunset is 7:45 PM ET, so if the launch is at the opening of the window, we will see a beautiful sunset launch. If it is delayed an hour, the sun will have set on the ground, but Civil Twilight last until 8:09 PM and that means that Atlas V’s plumes will still be in sunlight up high. It might be interesting, but forecasting a jellyfish plume is tricky.

What Is Project Kuiper?

Similar to SpaceX’s Starlink, Project Kuiper is Amazon’s initiative to provide global broadband access through a constellation of over 3,000 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

Announced in 2019, the project’s goal is to deliver fast, affordable internet connectivity to unserved and underserved communities worldwide. Like Starlink, by leveraging LEO satellites, Project Kuiper aims to provide low-latency broadband services to a diverse range of customers, including individual households, schools, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies.

To achieve this, Amazon plans to deploy some 3,236 satellites at altitudes ranging from 590 to 630 kilometers. The company has secured agreements for up to 83 launches over a five-year period, utilizing various launch providers such as Arianespace’s Ariane 6, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and later, Vulcan Centaur.

Launch Viewing: Online

Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link

For official updates regarding launch times, United Launch Alliance’s website is the best source of information. Launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.

Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.

Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.

Launch Viewing: In Person

The southern viewing spots are the best for this launch, but none are particularly close except for Playalinda Beach. Problem is, Playalinda closes at 8PM, so unless the launch is right on time, it won’t be an option.

The best free options are available for spectators: 528 West at the Banana River Bridge, Jetty Park and Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. Southern Titusville parks on Washington Avenu / US-1 are also good: Kennedy Point and Rotary Riverfront Park are your best bets.

Local recommendations also say the Cafe Paradiso and Ven pa’ Ca Café are excellent choices for before, after and even during launches. Grab a bite to eat, walk over to the Indian River and watch the launch.

April 2, 2025

ULA Looks To Launch Kuiper Satellites On Atlas V April 9th

After a sluggish start to 2025, United Launch Alliance announced today that is planning to launch a tranche of Amazon Kuiper satellites on April 9, 2025 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The company added that the launch window is set to open at 12:00 PM ET and will last three hours.

This will be ULA’s first launch this year. It recently received USSL certification for its new Vulcan rocket, which is now awaiting payloads prior to its next flight.

What Is Project Kuiper?

Similar to SpaceX’s Starlink, Project Kuiper is Amazon’s initiative to provide global broadband access through a constellation of over 3,000 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

Announced in 2019, the project’s goal is to deliver fast, affordable internet connectivity to unserved and underserved communities worldwide. Like Starlink, by leveraging LEO satellites, Project Kuiper aims to provide low-latency broadband services to a diverse range of customers, including individual households, schools, hospitals, businesses, and government agencies.

To achieve this, Amazon plans to deploy some 3,236 satellites at altitudes ranging from 590 to 630 kilometers. The company has secured agreements for up to 83 launches over a five-year period, utilizing various launch providers such as Arianespace’s Ariane 6, Blue Origin’s New Glenn, and United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and later, Vulcan Centaur.

“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,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of Project Kuiper.

“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. No matter how the mission unfolds, this is just the start of our journey, and we have all the pieces in place to learn and adapt as we prepare to launch again and again over the coming years.”

27 Kuiper satellites will be aboard Atlas V for the KA-01 mission, which are slated to fly to a 280-mile orbital altitude.

Atlas V

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V has a 5-meter payload fairing, five Northrop Grumman GEM 63 solid rocket boosters, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.

Standing approximately 62.2 meters tall, the Atlas V 551 can deliver payloads up to 18,814 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO) and 8,900 kilograms to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

This configuration has been employed in notable missions, including the launches of NASA’s New Horizons probe to Pluto and the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter, and soon, Amazon Kuiper.

Atlas V is also crew-rated, and has carried astronauts to orbit on the Boeing Starliner CFT mission. While Boeing experienced issues with the Starliner spacecraft, its launch and orbital insertion were not one of them. Boeing CFT astronaut Suni Williams told Ars Technica’s Eric Berger recently that “The launch [on Atlas V] was awesome. Both of us looked at each other like, ‘Wow, this is going just perfectly.’ So the ride to space and the orbit insertion burn, all perfect.”

March 26, 2025

United Launch Alliance Vulcan Rocket Receives NSSL Certification

The United States Space Force has officially certified United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions. This certification follows an extensive evaluation process, including two successful certification flights.

With this approval, ULA is now authorized to conduct NSSL missions, enhancing the nation’s assured access to space by having multiple unique launch service vehicles across multiple vendors. The government seeks this not for operational convenience but instead for tactical agility.

NSSL certification encompasses 52 criteria, involving over 180 specific tasks. These tasks included two certification flight demonstrations, 60 verifications of payload interface requirements, 18 subsystem design and test reviews, and 114 hardware and software audits. This rigorous assessment established the technical foundation for future flightworthiness evaluations.

“The SSC and ULA teams have worked together extremely closely, and certification of this launch system is a direct result of their focus, dedication, and teamwork,” said Gen Panzenhagen, Program Executive Officer for Assured Access to Space.

The Vulcan Centaur rocket features the Centaur V upper stage, measuring 5.4 meters in diameter and 11.7 meters in length, with a propellant capacity of 120,000 pounds. Constructed from pressure-stabilized, corrosion-resistant stainless steel, the Centaur V utilizes two RL10C engines fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This design aims to provide enhanced performance and flexibility for complex orbital insertions.

“Thank you to all our customer partners who have worked hand-in-hand with us throughout this comprehensive certification process. We are grateful for the collaboration and excited to reach this critical milestone in Vulcan development,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO.“Vulcan is uniquely designed to meet the challenging requirements demanded by an expanding spectrum of missions for U.S. national security space launches. Moreover, this next-generation rocket provides high performance and extreme accuracy while continuing to deliver to our customer’s most challenging and exotic orbits.”

Flown Twice Successfully, With One Issue

In its inaugural launch on January 8, 2024, the Vulcan Centaur successfully deployed the Peregrine lunar lander. Despite a propulsion issue with the lander that prevented a lunar landing, the Vulcan Centaur performed as intended. A subsequent certification flight on October 4, 2024, experienced a nozzle anomaly on one of the solid rocket boosters but still achieved the mission’s objectives.

With the Vulcan Centaur’s certification, ULA plans to support multiple NSSL missions in the coming years.

October 4, 2024

ULA, Vulcan, Cert-2, October 4, 2024

United Launch Alliance successfully launched its second Vulcan rocket this morning from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. The launch was not a perfect one, however, as Vulcan survived a very close call when one of the two solid-rocket boosters on the first stage partially failed and lost its nozzle in flight.

Despite a partial loss of thrust from the errant SRB, ULA’s flight software and engineering teams were able to make corrections to trajectory of the rocket as it continued to ascent.

October 2, 2024

Vulcan CERT-1 Revisited

Using Lightroom rather than Photoshop, I edited one of the photos I took from the January 8, 2024 launch of ULA’s Vulcan. The second launch of this rocket is scheduled for Friday 10/4.

May 5, 2024

Atlas V, Starliner Are Ready To Fly Tomorrow

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner “Carlypso” On Top Of Altas V, M ay 5, 2024.
Phtoo: Charles Boyer / ToT

After about a decade of setbacks and challenges, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is set to head to orbit with crew aboard for the first time tomorrow evening. To say that it has been a roller coaster for engineers and managers of the legacy-rich company would be a massive understatement, but the mood among the Space Coast workers at Boeing is best described as quietly confident.