United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch Amazon's second group of satellites for its Kuiper internet satellite constellation today (June 16), and you can watch the action live.
The 27 satellites, riding atop a ULA Atlas V rocket, are scheduled to lift off at 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT) today from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
You can watch it live here at Space.com courtesy of ULA, or directly via the company. Coverage will begin 20 minutes before liftoff.
The forecast calls for a 75% chance of acceptable weather conditions, with cumulus cloud cover being the primary concern (as of the time this article was published).
Should all proceed to plan, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket's two RD-180 engines and five side-mounted solid rocket boosters will power the first one minute and 46 seconds of flight. The boosters will then separate, followed by the jettison of the fairing that shields the Kuiper satellites at three minutes after launch.
The RD-180 engines will cut off at about 4 minutes, 23 seconds, and then the booster and upper stage will separate. A Centaur engine will thrust the satellites the rest of the way into orbit, cutting off at 18 minutes.
The Atlas V rocket, flying in its 551 configuration, is outfitted with a medium-length protective fairing and five solid rocket boosters.
Amazon describes the goal of its Project Kuiper as "to deliver fast, reliable internet to customers and communities around the world." Amazon's first launch of 27 satellites in April. also on an Atlas V, began the network, which aims to have more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit after 83 launches on the Atlas V, ULA's Vulcan, Blue Origin's New Glenn and Arianespace's Ariane 6 rockets.
