Europe’s powerful Ariane 6 rocket launching 32 Amazon internet satellites early April 30: Watch it live
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Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace-ArianeGroup/Optique Vidéo du CSG-P. Piron
Europe’s most powerful rocket will go into action early Thursday morning (April 30) and you can follow the action live.
A Ariane 6 A large carrier topped with 32 Amazon Leo satellites should be launched from The European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Thursday, during a 49-minute window that opens at 4:08 a.m. EDT (08:08 GMT; 5:08 a.m. local time in Kourou).
You can watch it live here on Space.com courtesy of Arianespace, the French company that operates Ariane 6. You can also watch it directly via Arianespace.
An Ariane 6 rocket launches 32 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit from French Guiana on February 12, 2026. | Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace-ArianeGroup/Optique Vidéo du CSG-P. Piron
Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is Amazon’s answer to EspaceXStarlink’s broadband megaconstellation. It won’t be as important though; Amazon Leo will eventually include around 3,200 satellites, while Star link has over 10,000 spaceships (and counting).
These 3,200 satellites will be launched in more than 80 launches, launched by various rockets – Ariane 6, the SpaceX rocket. Falcon 9 and United Launch Alliance Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur.
Only 10 of these missions have taken off to date. Most recent happened Monday (April 27), when an Atlas V put 29 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit.
Thursday’s mission, which Arianespace calls VA268, will be the seventh flight of Ariane 6 and the second of its most powerful variant, known as the 64, because it features four solid rocket boosters.
The very first launch of Ariane 64 took place in Februarywhen the rocket delivered 32 Amazon Leo satellites to low earth orbit. VA268 will attempt to do the same thing.
“For this mission, the launcher will transport the 32 satellites under its 20-meter-long fairing and deploy them in low Earth orbit after a mission of less than 2 hours from takeoff until the separation of the last spacecraft,” Arianespace representatives indicated in a press release. statement last month.
There will be many more such launches to come – 16 in fact. Amazon has reserved a total of 18 Ariane 6 flights for the construction of the constellation.
