Summer is nearly back on the Space Coast, with warm temperatures and a persistent threat of rain in the afternoon and evenings — typical weather here, and it will stay this way for several months. That being said, Atlas V was able to beat the weather last night and launched at the opening of its window, with liftoff at 7:01 PM ET after an apparently quiet countdown, save for some concerns about the energy potential of a nearby anvil cloud (Cumulonimbus incus) lingering near the launch pad before dissipating.
Atlas Kuiper KA-01 lifting off on April 28, 2025.
Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now
A ULA Atlas rocket with four sold rocket boosters at LC-41 on 8-28-23 carrying NROL-107. Image by Richard P. Gallagher | FMN
Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to launch an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the first batch of production satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation. Another ULA rocket, the Vulcan, will not be launching a previously assigned military GPS satellite. It has been reassigned to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, marking the second such change in recent months. Here’s what you need to know about these developments in the world of spaceflight.
Amazon is set to launch its first 27 production satellites for Project Kuiper aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on April 9, 2025. The launch is scheduled for noon EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with a three-hour launch window.
Pete Carstens is a man who can see things almost no one else can. Long after launch spectators and even launch photographers have called it a day, Pete continues tracking the launch, watching the streaking rocket sometimes almost all the way to orbit. Fortunately, he shares everything he sees, making space flight journalism all the better for it.
Debris from the left SRB nozzle is visible in this “engine shot” by Chris Leymarie / FMN
United Launch Alliances’s CERT-2 flight launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:25 AM EDT this morning. Almost immediately from the point of launch, observers noticed that something didn’t look quite right as Vulcan booster rose from the pad.
ULA Vulcan CERT-2 on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
United Launch Alliance is planning to launch its second Vulcan rocket early tomorrow morning from Space Launch Complex 41. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 06:00 AM EDT, with a launch window that extends to 09:00 AM EDT the same day.
The launch is planned for about 75 minutes before sunrise, and if liftoff occurs before the sun peeks over the horizon, the expanding gases of the second stage may produce a spectacular display.
United Launch Alliance’s CERT-2 rocket on its way to the launch mount at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on September 30, 2024. Photo: United Launch Alliance
United Launch Alliance has moved its second Vulcan Rocket from their Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 to the launch mount. Final preparations can now begin for a launch scheduled for NET (not earlier than) Friday morning. Launch time is unofficially expected to be between 06:00 AM – 009:00 AM EDT, but ULA has not yet announced an official time for T-0.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launching the USSF-51 mission rises majestically against a backdrop of a serene, early morning sky tinged with hues of pink and purple. Image by Richard P Gallagher
Payload fairing on the second stage of a ULA Atlas V rocket carrying a classified satellite for the Space Force. Image by Richard P Gallagher
Cape Canaveral, FL — On July 30, 2024, United Launch Alliance (ULA) will reach a milestone of sorts with the launch of the USSF-51 mission aboard an Atlas V rocket. The launch will be from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station , and is scheduled for 6:45AM. This mission is not only important for the United States Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) but also the last national security mission that the ULA will execute using the workhorse Atlas V rocket. Future national security launches will be utilize the new ULA Vulcan booster.
Teams process Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024, following its arrival from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Dream Chaser Tenacity will eventually undergo final testing and prelaunch processing inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of its inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable transportation system is contracted to perform a minimum of seven cargo missions to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand commercial resupply services to low Earth orbit. Photo: Sierra Nevada
In an announcement today, United Launch Alliance (ULA) stated that Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is off of the second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.
Boeing Starliner finally heads to space. Photo: Chris Leymarie/FMN
For the first time since 1968, astronauts have been launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, marking the first-ever manned mission from a Space Force installation. On June 5, at precisely 10:52 a.m. EDT, NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 aboard the Atlas V rocket, commencing the eagerly anticipated Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission.
