United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the first two demonstration satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation stands ready for launch on pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on October 5, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States.
As Amazon chases SpaceX in the internet satellite market, the e-commerce and computing giant turned to Elon Musk's rival company to get its next batch of devices into space.
On Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Kuiper satellites lifted off from a launchpad on Florida's Space Coast at 2:30 a.m. ET. About an hour after launch, SpaceX confirmed all Kuiper satellites were successfully deployed.
The launch was livestreamed on X, the social media platform also owned by Musk.
The mission marks an unusual alliance. SpaceX's Starlink is currently the dominant provider of low-earth orbit satellite internet, with a constellation of roughly 8,000 satellites and about 5 million customers worldwide.
Panos Panay, who oversees Amazon's devices and services unit, including Kuiper, thanked SpaceX for giving the satellites a lift into space.
"Congrats to the amazing Amazon Project Kuiper team on another successful launch, and a big thanks to SpaceX for the ride to space," Panay wrote in a LinkedIn post shortly after the launch. "Pumped to have another batch of Kuiper satellites heading into orbit!"
Amazon launched Project Kuiper in 2019 with a goal of providing broadband internet from a constellation of more than 3,000 satellites. The company is working under a tight deadline imposed by the Federal Communications Commission that requires it to have about 1,600 satellites in orbit by the end of July 2026.