The ULA Atlas V rocket successfully placed 29 Amazon Kuiper (Leo) satellites into orbit on April 27, 2026, at 8:53 p.m. EDT (0053 GMT) from Cape Canaveral. It marked the first flight for the Atlas V rocket after a hiatus of almost three years and also matched the payload weight record held by the Atlas V (approximately 18 tons). It was the sixth of the planned series of launches under Project Kuiper (Leo).
Launch details
According to the reports, the Atlas V launch vehicle was in a 551 configuration (five solid rocket boosters, 5.4-m fairing). It lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:53:30 p.m. EDT (0053:30 UTC) on April 27. ULA noted that it used a streamlined 14-hour rollout-to-launch process. The Centaur upper stage then deployed the 29 satellites in ten groups between about 21 and 37 minutes after liftoff.
Payload and mission context
The 29 satellites are part of Amazon’s Project Kuiper (Amazon Leo) broadband constellation, a network designed to provide global internet coverage. It was the sixth Atlas V launch for Amazon (and tenth mission overall), bringing the fleet of deployed Kuiper satellites to about 270. All 29 payloads deployed successfully.
The mission tied Atlas V’s own record by lofting about 18 tons into orbit. The satellites were initially placed into orbits roughly 465 kilometers above Earth, from which the Amazon mission team will raise them to their operational altitude of about 630 kilometers. Satellites will now be raised from ~465 km to ~630 km altitude. The next Amazon launch (Leo-07 on Atlas V) is scheduled for May 22, 2026.
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