United Launch Alliance launched Atlas V carrying the Amazon Leo LA-08 mission from Cape Canaveral last and into a warm, partly cloudy moonlit summer night. Liftoff was at 12:30 AM EDT.
This launch was the last time the venerable rocket flew a mission for anything other than the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. There are six boosters remaining, but as Starliner’s struggles continues, it’s quite possible that those boosters won’t be needed for Boeing’s crew transportation system. Some estimates have Starliner not carrying crew for another couple of years, perhaps in 2028 or later.
Atlas V has been a steady performer for ULA. It debuted on August 21, 2002, launching the Hotbird 6 satellite for Eutelsat, and experienced only one partial failure — a NROL satellite was placed in an incorrect orbit after issues with the Atlas-Centaur second stage. Over its 109 launch history, Atlas V has launched the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers toward Mars, the New Horizons probe to Pluto, the Juno mission to Jupiter, the Starliner missions and 58 national security missions.
| Mission | Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-08) |
|---|---|
| Rocket | Atlas V 551 |
| Organization | United Launch Alliance |
| Location | Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA |
| Pad | Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) |
| Launch Time |
Thursday, July 2, 2026 — 12:30 AM EDT |
| Destination | Low Earth Orbit |
| Official Stream Replay | ULA Mission Coverage / Webcast |
| Mission Notes | Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access. Managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon, the constellation is planned to include 3,276 satellites in 98 orbital planes across three orbital layers at 590 km, 610 km, and 630 km altitude. This launch carries 29 satellites. |
Next Launch
SpaceX returns to action with another Starlink launch.
| Mission | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 10-50 |
|---|---|
| Status |
Go for Launch Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources. |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 |
| Organization | SpaceX |
| Location | Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA |
| Pad | Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) |
| Window |
Opens: Sunday, July 5, 2026 — 6:36 AM ET Closes: Sunday, July 5, 2026 — 10:36 AM ET (4-hour window)
|
| Countdown |
Loading countdown…
Target: 6:36 AM ET (Window Open)
|
| Destination | Low Earth Orbit |
| Official Stream | SpaceX Mission Coverage / Webcast |
| Mission Notes | This mission will launch a batch of 29 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink mega-constellation, a space-based internet communications system. The Falcon 9 first stage also carries two customer payloads from Besxar to test Fabships pilot reusable manufacturing pods in launch and re-entry environments. |
Author: Charles Boyer
NASA kid from Cocoa Beach, FL, born of Project Apollo parents and family. I’m a writer and photographer sharing the story of spaceflight from the Eastern Range here in Florida.
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