Just because Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos aren’t the best friends, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper competes directly with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite and broadband internet doesn’t mean that no one can get along yet.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched at 2:30am on Wednesday on Amazon’s satellite 24 from the Space Launch Complex at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster flew for the first time, landing a shortage of Gravitas on the droneship.
This was the first launch of SpaceX’s Amazon satellites, two previous missions with operational versions of the satellites, organized by the United Launch Alliance in a pair of Atlas V rockets earlier this year.
Falcon 9 launches a mission to orbit from @projectkuiper KF-01 Florida pic.twitter.com/oel54tcdfl
– SpaceX (@Spacex) July 16, 2025
Amazon initially shunned SpaceX when it eliminated launch contracts, although it aimed to become more than 3,200 satellites in its constellations. They also signed a deal to Bezos’ Blue Origin to fly a new Glen with an Arian 6 rocket and European launch service provider Arian Spurse.
However, Amazon has been reverted to the corner as Vulcan, Newglen and Arian 6 face delays and the Federal Communications Commission license for the project must launch at least half of the satellite by July 2026.
So SpaceX has a ready-to-use Falcon 9 and has attended the launch party.
This batch of 24 has been added to the 27 that was flew by Atlas V Missions, bringing it to a total of 78 so far. The complete 3,236 Satellite Constellations are scheduled to be released by July 31, 2029.
Meanwhile, SpaceX continues to grow its massive Starlink Constellation, launching more than 8,000 to date.
ULA has six more Atlas V launches, which add to the growing total, with the first Vulcan launch of Fly Floy’s Amazon set later this year. The dates for the Blue Origin or Arianespace mission have not been announced yet. Vulcan, New Glenn and Ariane 6 all have larger capacity than the Atlas V or Falcon 9, allowing you to speed up your pace when operating.
SpaceX is signed to launch two more Falcon 9s from Amazon.
Amazon will build a satellite processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center’s former Space Shuttle Landing site, which will speed up satellite availability when shipped from Amazon’s manufacturing facility in Washington to the Space Coast.
Wednesday’s launch was 61st overall on the 2025 Space Coast, with all but three coming from SpaceX.
Original issue: July 16th, 2025, 8:43am EDT
