DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Decatur’s United Launch Alliance rocket, meant to help Amazon satellites reach Earth’s orbit, has been delayed.
ULA was originally meant to send Amazon satellites to space in the Kuiper 2 mission on June 16. The launch was set to be from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
However, play-by-play status reports from Launch Control announced that the launch of the Atlas V 551 was delayed “due to an engineering observation of an elevated purge temperature within the booster engine.”
The rocket used in this mission was manufactured here in North Alabama. ULA in Decatur began preparations for the Kuiper 1 launch on Feb. 24 when the company stood up the Atlas V first stage aboard the mobile launch platform. In the days following, five side-mounted solid rocket boosters were fixed to the rocket to provide “maximum launch performance.”
Kuiper 1 launched into space on April 28.
The rocket itself stands at 205 feet tall. The full put-together Atlas V rocket features a longer length payload fairing than standard to carry as many satellites as possible. ULA said this first launch was only the ninth time in 102 launches of Atlas V to use the larger fairing.
You can view photos of the rocket provided by ULA below.
“This launch begins a new chapter in the commercial launch industry as Amazon partners with ULA to deliver a majority of its satellites into orbit. The Kuiper 1 mission is the first of 46 launches by ULA for the Kuiper constellation using eight Atlas V and 38 Vulcan rockets,” ULA said.
A new launch date is not available as of June 18. “The team will evaluate the hardware, and we will release a new launch date when available,” Launch Control wrote.
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