Overview

• The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:35 a.m. EDT after four rain-related delays, deploying 24 Kuiper satellites into low Earth orbit.
• This mission marked SpaceX’s 100th launch of 2025 and used a first-flight booster that returned nine minutes later to the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
• The landing represented the droneship’s 120th recovery and highlighted reusable rockets’ key role in sustaining rapid launch cadence.
• With 102 satellites now in orbit, Amazon must reach about 1,600 Kuiper spacecraft by July 2026 and complete more than 3,200 by July 2029 to keep its FCC authorization.
• Amazon has booked roughly 83 future launches across ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX and secured government contracts as it readies for commercial service later this year.