Fifth time’s a charm! SpaceX launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper mission

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — After one technical issue and mostly weather problems, SpaceX was finally able to launch Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites on Monday morning.

And it only took five tries.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket left Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with the KF-02 mission at 8:35 a.m. ET, stated the company.

Maiden launch

This was the maiden launch of this Falcon 9 rocket’s first-stage booster, called B1091.

After stage separation, B1091 landed on A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean..

Attempting to launch

Between checkouts of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket and the weather, SpaceX and Amazon has seen a bit of bad luck trying to launch the KF-02 mission.

The California-based company was set to launch the KF-02 mission on Thursday, but SpaceX posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it was standing down from the launch to perform additional inspections. 

The launch was set to go up at 10:01 a.m. ET and then it was pushed back to 10:17 a.m. ET, until SpaceX scrubbed it.

The new launch attempt was going to be Friday at 9:40 a.m. ET. But the weather caused some concern for this launch.

While the 45th Weather Squadron called for an 80% chance of good liftoff conditions for Thursday’s launch attempt, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule, the weather did not look better for Friday’s launch attempt. 

The mission saw a 60% chance of good liftoff conditions, with warnings of cumulus cloud, surface electric fields and thick cloud rules, according to the squadron on Thursday morning.

However, as of Friday morning, the squadron gave a 40% chance of good launch conditions, giving the following warnings: cumulus cloud, anvil, and lightning rules. 

The company has not yet stated why it scrubbed the Friday launch. 

SpaceX was going to attempt a Saturday launch at 9:18 a.m. ET.  SpaceX posted on X that, “Teams are keeping an eye on weather, which is currently 35% favorable for liftoff.”

Then it was pushed to Sunday at 8:57 a.m. ET, but a new launch time was issued for Sunday at 9:13 a.m. ET.

However, at the one minute, 25 second mark of SpaceX’s launch attempt of Amazon’s Project Kuiper launch on Sunday morning, the California-based company’s mission control stated that there was a “no-go condition on recovery” of its Falcon 9 first-stage rocket booster.

This means that while technically, the rocket could have launched the KF-02 mission, the weather conditions were not good out in the Atlantic Ocean for its first-stage booster B1091 to land on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

Because a hold on the launch was issued at the T-30 second mark, it meant the takeoff attempt was scrubbed.

Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

About the mission

Amazon stated that its Project Kuiper KF-2 mission will see 24 satellites go into low-Earth orbit at 289 miles (465 kilometers) above Earth.

Eventually, they will be moved to their assigned altitude of 392 miles (630 kilometers).

These satellites will provide internet to customers throughout the planet.

There are currently 78 Kuiper satellites in orbit and after this launch, the total number is expected to climb to 102.

Amazon hopes to have more than 3,200 satellites.