Amazon Kuiper's Second Satellite Launch Delayed Over Rocket Booster Problem

On Monday, United Launch Alliance had to postpone the second flight that was set to carry a group of Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet satellites due to a complication with the rocket booster.

With about 30 minutes remaining in the countdown, ULA revealed that it was canceling the launch because of an issue related to “an elevated purge temperature” in the booster engine of its Atlas V rocket. The company stated that it would announce a new launch date later on.

“Possible issue with a GN2 purge line that cannot be resolved inside the count,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno said in a post on Bluesky. “We will need to stand down for today. We’ll sort it and be back.”

Originally, the launch from Florida’s Space Coast was scheduled for last Friday, but it was postponed to Monday at 1:25 p.m. ET due to bad weather.

In April, Amazon successfully launched 27 Kuiper internet satellites into low Earth orbit, which is a region of space located within 1,200 miles from the Earth’s surface. According to a blog post by Amazon, the upcoming second mission will deploy another 27 satellites into orbit, increasing the total number of satellites in our constellation to 54.

Kuiper is the newest player in the rapidly growing satellite internet sector, which seeks to provide high-speed internet access from space. Currently, this industry is led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which runs the Starlink service. Other notable competitors include OneWeb, backed by SoftBank, and Viasat.

Amazon aims to establish a constellation of over 3,000 satellites. The company must comply with a Federal Communications Commission requirement to launch at least half of its planned constellation, which amounts to 1,618 satellites, by July 2026.