Launch of satellite network to compete with Starlink scrubbed due to weather

United Launch Alliance scrubbed the planned Wednesday night launch due to a line of rain and clouds. ULA was scheduled to launch 27 satellites Wednesday night for Amazon’s satellite internet network. The launch was expected to take place from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission would send the first satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper network, a planned web consisting of over 3,200 satellites to provide fast and reliable internet to virtually anywhere in the world. The company plans 80 more launches to continue deploying satellites and building its network. SpaceX’s Starlink is one of the biggest pre-existing satellite internet providers in the United States, alongside Viasat and Hughesnet.

What will the launch look like when if and when it ultimately takes place? An Atlas V rocket will carry the dishes and deliver them into low Earth orbit, according to United Launch Alliance. The more than two dozen satellites are the heaviest payload that the Atlas V rocket has flown, and the rocket will be flying at its most powerful configuration, according to an Amazon statement. Amazon described the rocket as having a total of six booster engines and standing about seven stories high with a nearly 17-foot base.