BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A rocket launch carrying the first batch of internet satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper launched Monday night after being delayed earlier this month.
The Atlas V rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Amazon launched the first batch of satellites for Project Kuiper, which is meant to bring internet access to communities around the world using a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites in Low Earth Orbit, similar to SpaceX’s Starlink system.
The rocket was supposed to launch on April 9, but the attempt ended in a scrub due to weather concerns.
A ULA Atlas V launched prototypes of the satellites in 2023.
Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, is also planning to launch the constellation at some point.
In January, at Blue Origin’s New Glenn factory near Kennedy Space Center, News 6 reporter James Sparvero got to listen to who Bezos picked to be CEO, former Amazon executive Dave Limp, talk about competing with SpaceX.
Limp didn’t sound cutthroat as he made an argument the marketplace is big enough for more than one major player.
“It’s very easy to wanna write the headline that says one person, one company wins, but this isn’t a sporting event,” he said. “What’s likely to happen, and it happens all the time in business, is there’s multiple winners.”