SpaceX has launched 88 Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rockets so far this year and aims to increase the launch cadence to one flight every 2.5 days in 2024. The Falcon 9 rocket is the only rocket with any openings in its launch schedule that could make up a shortfall from delays caused by Amazon's other launch providers. Production of Atlas V rockets is winding down, and there are no more of those for Amazon to buy. The suit claims Amazon, its founder Jeff Bezos, and its board of directors breached "their fiduciary duty" and failed to consider SpaceX during the launch service procurement.Īside from the Atlas V, which Amazon will lean on to launch its first batches of satellites, none of the rockets needed to deploy the Kuiper network have flown. This led to a lawsuit filed in August by shareholders of a pension fund that includes Amazon stock. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, the world's most reliable launch vehicle, was left out of Amazon's multibillion-dollar rocket purchase. More Atlas Vs will start launching operational Kuiper satellites next year. Amazon previously contracted with ULA for nine Atlas V launches to support the initial series of Kuiper launches, the first of which lifted off in October with Amazon's first two Kuiper prototype satellites. Last year, Amazon bought up most of the Western world's excess launch capacity from everyone but SpaceX, securing 68 rocket flights from United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and Blue Origin to deploy thousands of satellites for the Kuiper broadband network. In a statement, Amazon said the SpaceX launches will provide "additional capacity" to "supplement existing launch contracts to support Project Kuiper’s satellite deployment schedule." SpaceX has its own broadband satellite fleet, with more than 5,100 Starlink spacecraft currently in orbit, making it a competitor with Amazon. The successful flight will bring the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 5,514.Amazon announced Friday that it has purchased three Falcon 9 rocket launches from SpaceX beginning in mid-2025 to help deploy the retail giant's network of Kuiper Internet satellites. SpaceX confirmed in a social media post that the 23 Starlink satellites were deployed as planned from the second-stage of the Falcon 9 a little over an hour into the mission. File photo of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini satellites inside a payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral earlier this year. The two halves of the payload fairing parachuted to a splashdown a little further downrange where they were to be scooped up by SpaceX’s support vessel “Bob”. The droneship, a converted ocean-going barge, is one of three operated by SpaceX, and was stationed about 420 miles (620km) downrange, East of the Bahamas. The Falcon 9 first stage landed on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” about eight and a half minutes after launch. It previously supported two crewed missions with the Ax-1 private astronaut mission to the International Space Station as well as the Inspiration4 mission. The first stage booster flying on this mission, tail number 1062, made its 17th flight. ![]() EST (0420 UTC) the Falcon 9 piercing a thin layer of cloud as it headed on southerly trajectory as it targeted an orbit inclined at 43 degrees. The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service soared into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 28, 2023, carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. A Falcon 9 heads on a south-easterly trajectory from Cape Canaveral on Nov.
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