During its fifth test, SpaceX manages the launch of the competitor of Amazon satellites

SpaceX was not one of Amazon’s original choices to pilot its Internet Broadband Kuiper satellite project, but Elon Musk’s company has just eliminated its second launch in less than a month for the company seeking to compete with Starlink de Spacex.

After four days of missed launch opportunities, SpaceX was back on Monday for a fifth successful test, while a Falcon 9 took off from Space Space Space Space Force 40 at 8:35 a.m., East of the Ka-02 mission, carrying 24 other satellites for the growing constellation of Amazon.

The launch came after the weather scrubs on Saturday on the launch site and Sunday on the Booster recovery site. A pair of attempts on Thursday and Friday was also canceled because SpaceX took the time to carry out additional vehicle checks.

The booster on the first floor of the mission made its first flight and will try to land downstream from the droneeship a deficit of gravity stationed in the Atlantic.

The launch comes less than four weeks since SpaceX made the first of three flights contracted for Amazon.

The majority of Amazon’s missions for what aims to be a constellation of 3,236-satellites were subcontracted to United Launch Alliance. ULA piloted an Atlas V in 2023 with the first pair of test satellites, and piloted two other Atlas V missions this year, marking the start of more than 80 operational missions planned to put them in orbit before summer 2029.

The Federal Communications Commission set a deadline for July 2026, however, when it distributed its license to Amazon so that the company has half orbit. Delays on rockets from primary launching service providers – including the new ULA Vulcan Centaur, the Blue Origin Origin of Bezos New Glenn and Arianespace of Ariane 6 Rockets – for Amazon to seek the help of SpaceX.

With the 27 satellites of each Atlas V launch and the 24 each of the Falcon 9 launches, the total number of operational satellites in space has now reached 102.

Ula has six other Atlas V launches which should all fly before the deadline for next summer, but also intends to start managing the first of its 38 vulcan Centaur launches this year also. Vulcan has approximately a capacity of 45-satellites, it should therefore be able to discover what would be the 1,618 necessary in mid-2026.

It may be that Amazon is looking for more aid for launching SpaceX or obtains an FCC update chronology if it is short in the next 12 months. The final contractual contractual mission of SpaceX and the rest of the Atlas V launches would bring the total number of satellites in space at only 288, which means that Amazon would need 1,330 others to reach this threshold halfway. This means 30 other vulcan missions or other Amazon suppliers.

It is not known when Blue Origin would make its first of 12 new Glenn missions (with an option for 15 more), because this heavy rocket only stolen once in January, and its second flight is reserved for a mission to send a pair of satellites in Mars for NASA. This flight will only come at least this fall. Arianes 6 from Arianespace, who obtained 18 launches for Amazon, also stole only once, but a second mission is scheduled for later in August, but not for Amazon.

SpaceX will probably eliminate its third launch for Amazon as soon as more satellites are prepared for the treatment of treatment from Amazon to Kennedy Space Center. Currently, Amazon is able to make five satellites per day in its Washington facilities. They are then dispatched to Florida for the final preparation on the $ 140 million site built on land rented at Espace en Florida adjacent to the old land shuttle landing site.

At full capacity, the treatment site can prepare satellites for three launches simultaneously because Ula, SpaceX and Blue Origin all fly from Cape Canaveral.

The launch of SpaceX marks the 67th of all the companies on the space coast for the year, with all three except three of SpaceX. It was also the 50th among all CCSFS companies with the other 17 of Kennedy Space Center.

The next launch of ULA, however, could happen on Tuesday evening, on what would be its third for its Centaur vulcan and the first for a national security mission after the space force certified the new rocket after two missions piloted in 2024.

The USSF-106 flight targets the takeoff of the Canaveral 41 space launch complex during a launch window which takes place from 7: 59 to 8:59

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