A United Launch Alliance rocket launched 29 Amazon.com Inc. satellites into space, paving the way for the company to launch broadband service later this year to challenge SpaceX's dominant Starlink network.
The Atlas V rocket carrying the latest batch of Amazon Leo satellites lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 00:30 local time on Thursday.
Chris Weber, Amazon's vice president of business and product for Leo, said in a post on X that with more than 390 satellites deployed, Amazon has "completed enough launches" to launch initial service this year. "There's still a lot of work to be done, including getting all these new satellites up to their designated altitudes."
United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket has launched about 60% of Amazon's satellites so far, and future missions will use the company's new Vulcan rocket.