United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Amazon recently launched a second batch of Project Kuiper internet satellites to low-Earth orbit, and ULA boss Tory Bruno has just shared some awesome close-ups of the company’s workhorse Atlas V rocket leaving the launchpad.
The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Monday, with cameras placed close to the launchpad capturing the moment the Atlas V blasted skyward:
This one includes the gorgeous backdrop of a sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean:
Best capture of the @ulalaunch Rocket, Atlas V 551 Rocket powers to deliver project kuiper satellites for Amazon.@torybruno always doing the most amazing job 👏. ULA launch has the best scientists in America. pic.twitter.com/WoVywReCR8
“Bird’s eye view of Kuiper 02 looking down from one of the lightning towers,” Bruno wrote in another video post shared on Tuesday:
Bird’s eye view of Kuiper 02 looking down from one of the lightning towers. (Turn up the volume) #Kuiper pic.twitter.com/jvGwGiifG9
And, finally, here’s some slow-motion footage of the Atlas V leaving the launchpad:
IGNITION & LIFT-OFF
Slow-mo cinema view of this morning’s @amazon Project Kuiper (KA-02) launch onboard a @ulalaunch Atlas-V rocket 🚀@torybruno @SonyProUSA @BrandonMWynn pic.twitter.com/f3jkvzXWv7
The Atlas V, which at 58.3 meters tall is about 11 meters shorter than SpaceX’s Falcon 9, first launched in 2002 and has conducted more than 85 orbital flights over the decades.
The rocket is noted for its impressive versatility, offering a wide range of configurations that allow mission planners to tailor the rocket’s payload fairing size, number of solid rocket boosters (from zero to five), and upper-stage engine count to precisely match the requirements of each space mission.
ULA’s Atlas V rocket will fly six more times for Project Kuiper before the company retires the vehicle and switches to its next-generation and more powerful Vulcan Centaur rocket for more launches.
ULA is set to deliver more than half of the Project Kuiper constellation’s 3,200 satellites during the next few years as Amazon builds out its Starlink-like internet-from-space service. The broadband system will combine satellites, customer terminals, ground stations, and Amazon Web Services infrastructure for high-speed, low-latency connectivity, with a particular focus on unserved and underserved communities around the world. Amazon is aiming to launch a limited service before the end of this year as its satellite constellation begins to expand.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.