First Launch of Amazon’s Satellite Network Grounded Due to Weather

The first 27 satellites of the more than 3,200 planned for the first-generation constellation were set to lift off at 7 p.m. on April 9.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the first batch of Amazon Project Kuiper satellites sits on Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 9, 2025. United Launch Alliance via Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Spotlights displayed a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket ready to fly from Florida’s Space Coast on the night of April 9 as her launch window ticked away. The cold white vapors radiating from her main stage’s cryogenic fuel tank danced in the whipping winds that were to keep her grounded.

Originally scheduled to lift off Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 41 at 7 p.m., the launch time was pushed back several times due to unsatisfactory weather conditions regarding the intensity of winds and storm clouds downrange.