United Launch Alliance (ULA) has successfully deployed 29 Amazon Leo satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) during the fifth Atlas V mission for the network. The launch, named LA-05, took place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, US.
The mission marks the largest payload of Amazon Leo satellites ever flown on an Atlas V rocket. This brings the total number of spacecraft deployed to 241 since the project, formerly known as Project Kuiper, began launching its constellation in April 2025.
The company says that the increase from previous 27-satellite configurations is the result of joint engineering work between Amazon and ULA to optimise launch capacity and accelerate deployment.
Following deployment at an altitude of 465 kilometres, the mission operations centre in Redmond, Washington, took command to perform initial health checks. The satellites will eventually be raised to their assigned operational altitude of 630 kilometres to be commissioned into the constellation.
Two further missions are scheduled for late April. Mission LA-06 is expected to launch on 27 April from Cape Canaveral with another 29 satellites. This will be followed by mission LE-02 on 28 April, which is scheduled to carry 32 satellites from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, using an Arianespace Ariane 64 vehicle.
Amazon says it is currently increasing production and processing rates at its Florida facility to support more than 100 planned missions. The final constellation is expected to include more than 3,000 satellites.
