Launch of Amazon's 1st Kuiper internet satellites delayed by bad weather

A gold and white atlas v rocket on the launch pad carrying 28 Amazon Kuiper satellites
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying 28 Amazion Kuiper internet satellites sits atop the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida ready to fly during a launch scrub on April 9, 2025. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)

Amazon may be a whiz at fast online deliveries, but the massive company will have to wait to launch the first satellites of its new space internet constellation after bad weather thwarted a liftoff on Wednesday night.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket attempted to launch 27 of Amazon's first Project Kuiper internet satellites to orbit from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 9, but persistent clouds near the pad violated launch rules, ULA officials said.

"It is confirmed that we will not continue with the Amazon Project Kuiper 1 launch activities today," ULA launch commentator Caleb Weiss said during a livestream. "We will work with our partners at the U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45 for the timing of our next launch opportunity."

Bad weather plagued ULA's launch attempt Amazon throughout a two-hour flight window that opened at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT). Launch controllers worked through some technical glitches, but were primarily concerned thick cumulus clouds and rain within 10 miles of the pad, which violated launch weather rules, ULA officials said.

Project Kuiper is Amazon's answer to SpaceX's megaconstellation of Starlink satellites to provide high-speed internet around the world. Amazon hopes to build a constellation of 3,200 broadband satellites in the years ahead to cement a foothold on the space-based internet market.

While ULA is launching these first Kuiper satellites, Amazon has tapped a wide range of launch services for the project, including flights on ULA's brand-new Vulcan Centaur rocket, Arianespace boosters, Blue Origin's New Glenn and SpaceX's Falcon rocket family.

In October 2023, Amazon launched two prototype Kuiper satellites on a test flight, paving the way to this first fave of the first operational satellite launches.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.

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