Vulcan failure leaves 40 Amazon Leo satellites short of orbit
A Vulcan rocket suffered an anomaly about 10 minutes after launch, and 40 Amazon Leo satellites were not delivered to orbit, United Launch Alliance said. The failure interrupted the first of 38 flights Amazon had purchased from ULA.
ULA said in a statement posted on X that the problem occurred during the flight from Space Launch Complex 41. The company said it did not yet know what caused the failure and pledged to be transparent as it investigates.
The mission was intended to advance Amazon Leo, the company’s competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink. Leo has so far placed only a small portion of the satellites it needs to challenge Starlink into orbit.
The source describes the incident as reportedly the first mission failure in ULA’s 20-year history. Amazon said on X that launches carry risk, particularly inaugural missions such as LV-01, and called ULA a trusted partner. The company said it believed ULA would learn from the mission and deliver on Vulcan’s long-term plans.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!