United Launch Alliance (ULA) has announced that Amazon has selected their next-generation Vulcan rocket for 38 launches to support the deployment for its ambitious Project Kuiper, Amazon’s initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 advanced satellites in LEO. ULA will be responsible for the launch of the majority of these satellites.
The Vulcan missions will launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Amazon’s goal for Project Kuiper is to make high-speed, low-latency broadband more affordable and accessible for unserved and underserved communities around the world. The initiative is designed to serve individual households, as well as schools, hospitals, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable broadband services.
Leveraging a legacy of 100 percent mission success launching over 145 missions to explore, protect and enhance our world, ULA is the nation’s most experienced and reliable launch service provider with world-leading reliability, schedule confidence, and mission optimization. The technologies we launch protect our country and troops in the battlefield, enable search and rescue, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, deliver cutting-edge commercial services, and expand our understanding of the Earth. We deliver value unmatched by any launch services company in the industry, a tireless drive to improve, and commitment to the extraordinary.
“We strongly believe in the mission of Project Kuiper. We are honored to be entrusted with the majority of Amazon’s launches with a total of 47 missions, including the nine Atlas launches already on contract,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “At ULA we are focused on serving our customers and partnering with them to provide unmatched flight capabilities and mission operations and assurance, to provide the lowest risk and best-value launch solution.”
“ULA has decades of experience and a proven track record across dozens of successful commercial and government missions, and we’re proud to have them on our team,” said Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Technology for Project Kuiper at Amazon. “Our work together to enhance launch operations at Cape Canaveral stands to benefit the broader space industry and contribute to greater resilience in space operations.”
“Vulcan Centaur’s unique, single-core, heavy lift design, coupled with its industry-leading large payload fairing, makes it an excellent fit for Amazon’s deployment of the majority of its Project Kuiper constellation,” said Chris Ellerhorst, ULA director of Strategy, Business Development and Sales. “In addition to the launches, this partnership includes substantial investments made by both companies in high-rate production, launch vehicle improvements, and launch infrastructure, to support Amazon’s long-term launch needs, which is great for the U.S. aerospace industry and supply chain.”
