A United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket carrying 40 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband network failed to reach orbit on Sunday, about 10 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch service provider called it an "anomaly" in an X post and said it does not yet have specific data on what went wrong, though it plans to investigate and return to flight as quickly as possible.
The rocket lifted off at 12:40 p.m. ET after two days of delays and a countdown hold with 20 seconds left to resolve a technical issue; it is not known whether that issue played any role. The six solid rocket boosters, made by Northrop Grumman, appeared to perform normally and burned out less than two minutes after liftoff. The anomaly came during the Centaur upper stage's burn, which is powered by two RL10 engines made by L3Harris, and Spaceflight Now reported that the first stage burned longer than planned and that the Centaur made unusual orientation adjustments early in its burn.S2
ULA described it as its first total mission failure since the Boeing–Lockheed Martin joint venture was formed in 2006, according to Spaceflight Now. The flight was Vulcan's first in nine months and the first of 38 Vulcan launches Amazon has purchased. Amazon Leo said that "there is risk with any launch" and that ULA has been a trusted partner.S2
The loss is a setback for Amazon's challenge to SpaceX's Starlink. Before Sunday, Amazon had launched 396 satellites on 14 missions since April 2025, with its last successful launch in July on an Atlas 5. The Vulcan was slated to carry more than 1,500 first-generation satellites, and Amazon had said the second Vulcan mission could fly within weeks of the first; that flight now must wait for ULA's investigation. Amazon also holds 24 launches on Blue Origin's New Glenn, which has been grounded since a May incident.S2
