ULA's Amazon satellite launch now set for Monday liftoff at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
(This story has been updated with new weather forecast information.)
Take two: United Launch Alliance now aims to launch an Atlas V rocket on Amazon's second Project Kuiper broadband satellite mission at 6:54 a.m. Monday, June 23, seven days after a scrub.
Slotted to soar a half-hour after sunrise, the high-profile mission has a 30-minute window from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
What is Project Kuiper? It's Amazon's planned $10 billion constellation of 3,232 satellites to provide high-speed internet service around the world. ULA launched the ecommerce giant's first 27 production satellites on April 28 from the Space Force installation. This mission will add another 27 to the mix.
On Monday, June 16, ULA scrubbed the initial Project Kuiper 2 launch attempt about 35 minutes before liftoff, citing "an engineering observation of an elevated purge temperature within the booster engine." Technicians spent the past week working the issue.
Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
Countdown Timer
Look for live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team blog coverage to kick off two hours before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space. We'll link to ULA's webcast about 20 minutes before launch.
Bolstered by five solid rocket boosters, the 205-foot Atlas V will fly to the northeast in its most powerful configuration.
ULA announced the forecast calls for 80% "go for launch" weather, with cumulus clouds posing a threat. The National Weather Service forecast calls for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms Sunday night with mostly clear skies, an overnight low around 77 degrees, and east-southeast wind of 5 to 10 mph at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
In the years to come, ULA is slated to launch six more Atlas Vs and 38 Vulcan rockets on Project Kuiper satellite-deployment missions. In addition, Amazon is contracted for more than 30 missions with SpaceX, Blue Origin and Arianespace.
Amazon is wrapping up work on a $120 million, 100,000-square-foot satellite processing plant at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. An early $20 million site expansion includes a 42,000-square-foot flight hardware building.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Amazon Project Kuiper launch rescheduled after Atlas V engine issue
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