Welcome everyone!

Scheduled for (UTC) 2025-06-16 17:25
Scheduled for (local) 2025-06-16 13:25 (EDT)
Launch site SLC-41, Cape Canaveral SFS, Florida, USA.
Launch vehicle Atlas V 551
Launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Customer Amazon Kuiper Systems LLC
Payload 27 Kuiper satellites
Mass 15,422.0 kg
Target orbit LEO

Livestreams

Stream Link
ULA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKifwI3t55A
NASASpaceflight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLQstWj6xsY
Space Affairs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DpfQPwRjTo
Spaceflight Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD9sZwzddF8
The Launch Pad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLt_H5pzBWc
Everyday Astronaut https://www.youtube.com/@EverydayAstronaut/streams

Launch statistics

☑️ 2nd Atlas V mission of 2025, 103rd overall

☑️ 2nd ULA mission of 2025, 165th overall

Mission Details 🚀

Project Kuiper is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. This constellation is planned to be composed of 3,236 satellites. The satellites are projected to be placed in 98 orbital planes in three orbital layers, one at 590 km, 610 km, and 630 km altitude.

Previous ULA launch: Project Kuiper (KA-01)

Next ULA launch: TBD

  • threelonmusketeersOPMEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    Launch delayed, per launch status update from ULA website at 12:51 EDT:

    (Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., June 16, 2025) – The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 carrying Amazon’s second Project Kuiper mission, Kuiper 2, is delayed due to an engineering observation of an elevated purge temperature within the booster engine. The team will evaluate the hardware, and we will release a new launch date when available.

    Edit: Additional info from Tory:

    https://bsky.app/profile/torybruno.bsky.social/post/3lrqdzwhnwk2m

    Working a temperature measurement warmer than previous family

    https://bsky.app/profile/torybruno.bsky.social/post/3lrqgylhjdk2m

    Possible issue with a GN2 purge line that cannot be resolved inside the count. We will need to stand down for today. We’ll sort it and be back.

    • threelonmusketeersOPMEnglish
      1·
      13 hours ago

      True, they’d need a different payload dispenser for each launch vehicle…

      • burble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        12 hours ago

        For some reason I was thinking it was the same ring of 9 for each vehicle, but different numbers of those rings depending on launcher capability and fairing size.

        But needing to go to different facilities to integrate the stacks and deal with the different companies sounds awful.