Atlas V rocket launches 27 of Amazon's internet satellites to orbit

United Launch Alliance (ULA) sent another batch of Amazon's internet satellites to orbit on Tuesday morning (Dec. 16).

a white rocket launches into a dark night sky — A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches 27 Amazon Leo internet satellites to orbit on Dec. 16, 2025. (Image credit: ULA)

The network will eventually consist of about 3,200 satellites, which will reach orbit on more than 80 launches performed by a variety of rockets. Six of those missions had been completed before Tuesday, lofting 153 Project Leo satellites to the final frontier. (Those numbers don't count a test mission that carried two prototype satellites to LEO in October 2023.)

Tuesday's launch was the fourth Project Leo mission for the Atlas V, a venerable and highly dependable rocket that debuted in August 2002. ULA is phasing out the Atlas V in favor of a new vehicle called Vulcan Centaur, which has three missions under its belt to date.

All went according to plan on Tuesday: the 27 Amazon Leo satellites were deployed on schedule, during a 15-minute stretch beginning about 20 minutes after liftoff. We didn't get to see that milestone, however; ULA cut off its webcast about five minutes into the flight.

closeup of a rocket's engines at liftoff during a night launch — Closeup shot of the Atlas V's first-stage engines at liftoff on Dec. 16, 2025. (Image credit: ULA)

When it's up and running, Project Leo will beam internet connectitvity down to people around the globe. It will compete with SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation, which already provides service to customers using more than 9,000 satellites in LEO. And that number is growing all the time; SpaceX has launched more than 3,000 Starlink satellites so far in 2025 alone.

Interestingly, SpaceX is helping to build out the Project Leo network; its Falcon 9 is among the rockets that Amazon has tapped to launch the megaconstellation, along with Arianespace's Ariane 6, Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur.

Editor's note: This article was updated Dec. 15, at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) to reflect the most recent launch window availability, then again at 3:37 a.m. EST on Dec. 16 with news of successful liftoff, then again at 11:40 a.m. EST with news of satellite deployment.

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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