ULA’s Atlas-5 rocket launches first two Kuiper satellites
ULA’s Atlas-5 rocket today successfully launched the first two prototype satellites of Amazon’s proposed 3,200-satellite constellation to provide broadband globally in competition with Starlink and OneWeb.
As of posting, the satellites had not yet deployed, with the rocket’s upper stage still firing its engines to bring the rocket to its proper orbit. The live stream unfortunately ended early at this point.
Though the Atlas-5 is being retired, to be replaced by ULA’s still unlaunched Vulcan rocket, about seventeen rockets remain in the company’s launch manifest. All have payloads, so any additional ULA launch contracts must rely on Vulcan.
This was ULA’s third launch in 2023, so it does not change the leader board for the 2023 launch race. The company predicted it would complete ten launches in 2023, a prediction that with less than three months left in the year seems unlikely for it to achieve.
70 SpaceX
45 China
13 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India
American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 82 to 45, and leads the entire world combined 82 to 72. SpaceX by itself still trails the rest of the world, excluding American companies, 70 to 72.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
ULA’s Atlas-5 rocket today successfully launched the first two prototype satellites of Amazon’s proposed 3,200-satellite constellation to provide broadband globally in competition with Starlink and OneWeb.
As of posting, the satellites had not yet deployed, with the rocket’s upper stage still firing its engines to bring the rocket to its proper orbit. The live stream unfortunately ended early at this point.
Though the Atlas-5 is being retired, to be replaced by ULA’s still unlaunched Vulcan rocket, about seventeen rockets remain in the company’s launch manifest. All have payloads, so any additional ULA launch contracts must rely on Vulcan.
This was ULA’s third launch in 2023, so it does not change the leader board for the 2023 launch race. The company predicted it would complete ten launches in 2023, a prediction that with less than three months left in the year seems unlikely for it to achieve.
70 SpaceX
45 China
13 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
7 India
American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 82 to 45, and leads the entire world combined 82 to 72. SpaceX by itself still trails the rest of the world, excluding American companies, 70 to 72.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
How many satellites does Lex Luthor have to launch to keep his license from being withdrawn.
My understanding is 50% of 3, 238 or 1,618 satellites by 2026. Tic, tic, tic…
Correction: My understanding is 50% of 3, 236 or 1,618 satellites by 2026. Tic, tic, tic…
2 out of 3200?
At what 250 million a launch that would be what, 400 billion dollars to just launch their network?
Not counting replacements?
The ROI must be huge for that kind of up front projection.
Atlas V launches two small satellites:
Dog bites man.
Two small satellites, the first such by Blue Origin, work great:
Man bites dog, dog voluntarily goes to vet.
pzatchok asked: “At what 250 million a launch that would be what, 400 billion dollars to just launch their network?”
As soon as these test satellites prove that the system works as intended (perhaps with minor adjustments or modifications), then they will launch more than two at a time, but pzatchok’s point is a good one. There is currently a lawsuit by investors, because they believe that the choice of launch providers does not include low cost launches and a wider selection could have made the initial cost of the constellation somewhat lower, allowing for more profits, faster initiation of operations, etc.
Tests can be expensive, and in this case the cost includes the price of a launch.
Atlas is one of the angriest sounding launchers
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4qXHG2Ytcw&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforum.nasaspaceflight.com%2F&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt
“Atlas is one of the angriest sounding launchers…”
Well, after all it is being cancelled and replaced by a vehicle that is untested, powered by an engine that is having delivery problems. And, by the way, the replacement doesn’t do that newfangled “reuse” thingy!