Amazon’s rocket gamble pays off only in Europe
▼ Summary
– Amazon has hundreds of satellites built and waiting in Florida for launch, with several more being manufactured daily.
– The next launch will send 36 satellites into orbit via an Ariane 64 rocket from French Guiana.
– Most of Amazon’s 331 satellites have launched on Atlas V rockets, but only one more Atlas V mission is booked.
– Amazon booked launches on Ariane 6, New Glenn, and Vulcan rockets four years ago, but only Arianespace has delivered so far.
– Amazon praised Arianespace for its reliability and plans to continue using it for the remaining 16 launches and beyond.
Amazon now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites sitting idle in Florida, waiting for rides to orbit as part of its low-Earth orbit Internet constellation, a company executive confirmed Tuesday.
“They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, during a teleconference with reporters. “And we’re currently manufacturing several satellites a day.”
Metayer spoke on the eve of the company’s next mission, where an Ariane 64 rocket will launch three dozen Amazon Leo satellites into orbit from a spaceport in French Guiana. Liftoff is targeted for 7:53 am ET (11:53 UTC) on Wednesday.
Arianespace has emerged as a critical partner for Amazon. To date, the majority of its 331 satellites have launched on Atlas V rockets operated by United Launch Alliance. But Amazon has just one more mission booked on that rocket before it retires.
Four years ago, Amazon secured launch contracts with three large, new rockets for its Leo constellation: 18 launches on the Ariane 6, 12 launches on Blue Origin’s New Glenn (with options for 15 more), and 38 launches of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
So far, only Arianespace has delivered. It has completed two launches this year, has another scheduled for Wednesday, and more are planned. Neither New Glenn (also owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos) nor Vulcan has launched any Amazon satellites yet.
“As for Arianespace, they have definitely stepped up,” Metayer said. “They’re very reliable on their manifest dates, and they’re very reliable and safe on their insertions into orbit. So we definitely would continue to look forward to the next 16 launches with them on our existing contract, and we see them being a player long-term beyond that.”
(Source: Ars Technica)
