Amazon switches rockets for first test satellites for sooner launch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) plans to launch its first pair of prototype internet satellites late next month on a different rocket than previously planned, a spokesman said on Monday, again switching rides for the spacecraft to avoid mounting rocket delays.

The company will launch the two satellites, the first in Amazon’s Kuiper program to offer internet globally from space, aboard a dedicated Atlas (NYSE:) V rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, spokesman James Watkins said.

The targeted launch date is Sept. 26, he said.

Amazon last year announced plans to launch the satellite pair aboard the first flight of ULA’s new Vulcan rocket, moving them off previously planned rockets from launch startup ABL Space to avoid delays in ABL’s rocket development.

But delays with Vulcan have prompted Amazon to again switch rides. Vulcan, which had been expected to launch in early 2023 at the time of Amazon’s decision, has run into testing hiccups that now peg its target launch date in the fourth quarter of 2023, a ULA spokeswoman said.