United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V 551 rocket carrying 29 Amazon Leo internet satellites from Launch Complex-41 (LC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday (May 29). The Amazon Leo 7 (or LA-07) mission lifted off at 2353 UTC after a 20-minute weather delay.

The Atlas V 551 configuration utilized five solid rocket boosters and a 5-meter payload fairing, with the Centaur upper stage deploying the satellites into low Earth orbit in groups over the course of several minutes, with the final two popping free about 38 minutes after liftoff.

This is one of the Atlas V's most powerful flight setups,  tying the Atlas V's record for the heaviest payload ever launched at about 18 tons, with each solid rocket engine providing 371,550 pounds (1.6 mega-Newtons) of thrust at liftoff on top of the main booster's RD-180 engine, which produces 860,200 pounds (3.83 mega-Newtons) of power itself.

Friday's launch occurred against a backdrop of significant industry disruption; just hours prior, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket suffered a catastrophic explosion during testing at a nearby pad, resulting in the complete loss of that vehicle and delaying the scheduled launch of 48 additional Amazon Leo satellites that were to have flown on New Glenn.

ULA confirmed that its own launch pad and rocket remained healthy and unaffected by the incident, with the Atlas V payload processed safely at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

This mission marked the 12th Amazon Leo launch and added to the constellation’s existing network of over 300 satellites in orbit. Amazon aims to deploy more than 3,200 satellites to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, utilizing a mix of launch providers including ULA, SpaceX, Arianespace, and Blue Origin.

The U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contract, Friday, to accelerate the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, aiming to field an initial satellite constellation by 2028.

The SB-AMTI system integrates space-based sensors, secure communication links, and resilient ground processing to eliminate operational blind spots and provide sustained battlespace awareness in contested airspace.

This initiative is designed to provide persistent, global tracking of airborne threats—such as aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles—from space, addressing vulnerabilities caused by adversary anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems that threaten traditional airborne platforms like the aging E-3 Sentry and the planned E-7 Wedgetail.

SpaceX was selected from a pool of nine companies chosen in April 2026; the Space Force anticipates issuing multiple additional awards in the coming year to expand the industrial base and enhance capacity.

The contract aligns with the Golden Dome missile defense initiative and follows a $2.29 billion SpaceX award for the Space Data Network Backbone announced just days prior, totaling $6.45 billion in Space Force contracts for the company in one week.

The Space Force plans to operate second- and third-generation SB-AMTI systems by 2035, while the Air Force continues to fund the E-7 Wedgetail as Congress blocked earlier cancellation attempts.

“We are beginning development and integration efforts immediately to meet the program’s rapid deployment milestones and address emerging national security requirements,” said Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space Based Sensing & Targeting. “We will not leverage any one single provider; instead, we are partnering with a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors, each bringing various capabilities to support the SB-AMTI architecture, ensuring the Joint Force has access to a strong, competitive industrial base well into the future.”

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket experienced a catastrophic explosion during a static fire test at Launch Complex 36(LC-36) in Cape Canaveral at around 1400 UTC on May 29, destroying the vehicle and causing extensive damage to the launch site’s infrastructure. No personnel were injured, but the incident has frozen the company’s launch manifest and jeopardized critical NASA Artemis and Amazon Leo missions.

The anomaly occurred as the rocket’s seven BE-4 engines ignited for a hotfire test. The 321-foot (98 meters) rocket collapsed, causing its methane and liquid oxygen load to erupt into a massive fireball that obliterated the transporter erector and knocked out at least one lightning protection tower.

The blast destroyed the New Glenn rocket itself and severely damaged LC-36, Blue Origin’s only orbital launch facility. Reports indicate significant damage to the pad, hangars, and test facilities, with no backup pad available to replace it.

"We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test," Blue Origin wrote in an statement. " All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more."

Nobody was injured, Blue Origin said in an update on X on Thursday night. But damage to the pad — Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) — could be extensive, judging by the extent of the explosion, which multiple rocket-watchers captured on video.

"All personnel are accounted for and safe. It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it," Jeff Bezos, the billionaire and founder of Blue Origin, wrote in a statement on social media. "Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.

The FAA confirmed the test was outside licensed activities and will not lead a separate inquiry. Blue Origin must determine the root cause before the site can be cleared, a process expected to take longer than the investigation itself due to the need to rebuild the pad.

"RUD (rapid unscheduled disassembly) events are not unusual in the rocket world," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X Friday.

The explosion directly threatens NASA’s lunar exploration timeline, as New Glenn is the designated launch vehicle for Blue Origin’s Blue Moon landers. Moon Base 1, a mission scheduled for fall 2026 to deliver lunar terrain vehicles is now in doubt, despite a recent $188 million contract award.

The Blue Moon Mark 2 prototype, intended for a 2027 low-Earth orbit demonstration for Artemis 3, and the subsequent crewed landing for Artemis 4 in 2028, face significant delays.

Administrator Jared Isaacman said that NASA is assessing near-term mission impacts and will provide updates on the Artemis and Moon Base programs as more information becomes available.

"Spaceflight is unforgiving, and developing new heavy-lift launch capability is extraordinarily difficult," Isaacman said in an X post. "We will work with our partners to support a thorough investigation of this anomaly, assess near-term mission impacts, and get back to launching rockets. 
We will provide information on any impacts to the Artemis and Moon Base programs as it becomes available."

The incident suspended all 24 contracted launches for Amazon’s Leo broadband constellation. The NG-4 mission was scheduled to deploy 48 satellites on June 4, 2026, but no satellites were on board during the test.

Both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur use the same BE-4 engine. If the investigation identifies engine failure as the root cause, ULA’s Vulcan rocket—already grounded due to a separate booster anomaly—could face additional constraints.

This is the third major anomaly for New Glenn in its brief history. The rocket recently resumed flight operations after an FAA grounding following the NG-3 mission’s upper-stage failure in April 2026.