ULA Delays Atlas V Launch for 29 Amazon Leo 7 Satellites as Weather Halts Cape Canaveral Countdown
Updated
Updated · WESH 2 Orlando · May 29
ULA Delays Atlas V Launch for 29 Amazon Leo 7 Satellites as Weather Halts Cape Canaveral Countdown
7 articles · Updated · WESH 2 Orlando · May 29
A weather no-go kept ULA's Atlas V on the pad Friday evening at Cape Canaveral, delaying the Amazon Leo 7 mission and forcing a new T-0 time within the 7:33 p.m. to 8:02 p.m. window.
The flight is set to deploy another batch of Amazon's low-Earth-orbit broadband satellites, part of an initial constellation of more than 3,000 spacecraft aimed at customers beyond existing network coverage.
Cape Canaveral had already seen one successful launch earlier Friday, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from another pad at the Space Force Station.
The crowded launch day followed a Blue Origin setback Thursday, when a New Glenn rocket exploded during a static-fire test elsewhere at Cape Canaveral.
After a rocket explosion and a $50B AI bet, is Amazon's focus shifting from its space race with SpaceX?
With two key partners facing catastrophic failures, is Amazon's satellite internet plan now in serious jeopardy?
Amazon Leo 6 Launch Sets Atlas V Payload Record as Amazon Accelerates Global Satellite Internet Ambitions
Overview
On April 27, 2026, Amazon reached a major milestone in its Project Kuiper initiative by successfully launching 29 Kuiper satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral. This Amazon Leo 6 mission matched the Atlas V’s heaviest payload record, thanks to key technical advancements like the upgraded RL10C engine on the Centaur upper stage, which provided the necessary thrust and efficiency. The mission marked a pivotal step in rapidly deploying Amazon’s low Earth orbit constellation, highlighting strong collaboration between Amazon and ULA and demonstrating the sophisticated engineering behind this record-setting achievement.