Blue Origin · Amazon · Ars Technica
ULA's last six Atlas Vs can't launch anything besides Boeing's Starliner
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The final flight of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is still several years off, but an important era for the once-dominant launch company came to a close last week.
Key facts
- The final flight of an Atlas V for the Amazon Leo broadband constellation lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 12:30 am EDT (04:30 UTC) last Thursday, sending 29
- In 2022, Amazon secured contracts to launch most of the remaining Amazon Leo megaconstellation on ULA’s Vulcan, Europe’s Ariane 6, and Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets
- Until Vulcan or New Glenn return to flight, the Ariane 6 and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 will be the only rockets available for Amazon to launch a growing backlog of satellites produced at the company’s
- The New Glenn and Vulcan rockets share the same main engine: Blue Origin’s methane-fueled BE-4
Summary
The final flight of an Atlas V for the Amazon Leo broadband constellation lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 12:30 am EDT (04:30 UTC) last Thursday, sending 29 satellites to orbit to move the network closer to providing initial services. All 29 spacecraft deployed from the Atlas V rocket less than an hour after launch. Thursday’s launch marked the ninth Atlas V flight for Amazon Leo and the fourth Atlas V launch in less than three months, hitting a cadence the rocket has rarely seen in nearly a quarter-century of service. There are six more Atlas Vs in ULA’s inventory to launch Boeing’s Starliner crew capsules to the International Space Station (ISS) under contract to NASA.