An Atlas 5 551 lifts off July 2 carrying a set of Amazon Leo satellites. Credit: ULA
WASHINGTON — An Atlas 5 lifted off July 2 carrying a set of Amazon Leo satellites in the final launch by that vehicle to carry a satellite payload.
The Atlas 5 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:30 a.m. Eastern. The rocket carried 29 Amazon Leo satellites that were deployed starting 21 minutes after liftoff. The deployments were completed 16 minutes later.
With this launch, Amazon Leo has more than 390 satellites in orbit. “Still lots of work ahead — including raising all these new satellites to their assigned altitude — but we’ve completed enough launches for initial service this year, and future missions just add coverage and capacity,” Chris Weber, Amazon Leo vice president, said in a social media post.
The launch was the last of nine Atlas missions that Amazon purchased from United Launch Alliance in 2021 for its broadband constellation, originally called Project Kuiper. The first was used for a pair of prototype satellites in 2023, and the other eight launched operational satellites starting in April 2025.
