Welcome to the Launch Roundup! In this edition, one of Jeff Bezos’ companies sent something into orbit, the Spanish company PLD Space made history, Europe is down to a single operational booster, and SpaceX is preparing to launch NASA’s latest asteroid mission.

WASHINGTON — With the pending launch of the first two prototype satellites, Amazon lifted the curtain on its 3,236 Project Kuiper broadband constellation during the Satellite 2023 Conference.

Credit: Par SeanMichealClemes — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117737080

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has set May 4 as the date for the maiden launch of its new Vulcan rocket. The flight will launch Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine spacecraft to land on the Moon as well as two other payloads.

There’s good news and bad news in the latest scientific assessment of Earth’s vital ozone layer, which helps to protect life on Earth by absorbing the Sun’s ultraviolet light.

ARLINGTON, Va. (DARPA PR) — DARPA has selected 11 teams for Phase 1 of the Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node program, known as Space-BACN. Space-BACN aims to create a low-cost, reconfigurable optical communications terminal that adapts to most optical intersatellite link standards, translating between diverse satellite constellations. Space-BACN would create an “internet” of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, enabling seamless communication between military/government and commercial/civil satellite constellations that currently are unable to talk with each other.

The agency selected teams from academia and large and small commercial companies, including multiple performers awarded first-time contracts with the Department of Defense.

Solid rocket boosters will support existing ULA customers and Amazon’s Project Kuiper

MAGNA, Utah, June 8, 2022 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) has been awarded a multi-year contract valued at more than $2 billion from United Launch Alliance (ULA) for increased production of its 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) solid rocket booster and the extended length variation (GEM 63XL). The award, which supports Amazon’s Project Kuiper and additional ULA customers, includes both an increased production rate and significant facility expansion. This will enable Northrop Grumman to increase capacity and allows for the modernization of current and new state-of-the-art facilities and tooling.

ULA Establishes New Program Office to Support Amazon Commercial Launches

CENTENNIAL, Colo., May 16, 2022 (ULA PR) – United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced today it is establishing a new customer program office to support Amazon’s Kuiper Program and named Chris Ellerhorst vice president.

“Following the contract announcement that ULA will be launching the majority of Amazon’s Kuiper constellation on nine Atlas and 38 Vulcan launch vehicles, we are standing up a new program office to support this customer,” said Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO. “Chris’ extensive knowledge of customer requirements, his commitment to ensuring mission success as well as his unwavering dedication to serving the customer’s needs make him the perfect person to lead this new program office.”

“I am truly honored to lead ULA’s new program office for Project Kuiper,” said Ellerhorst. “Amazon is an important customer with an exciting and meaningful mission, and I look forward to bringing ULA’s unmatched launch service capabilities, industry-leading mission operations and assurance to this program – delivered by the most experienced workforce in the industry.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Aerojet Rocketdyne PR) – United Launch Alliance (ULA) recently awarded the largest RL10 contract ever to Aerojet Rocketdyne to deliver 116 RL10C-X engines for its Vulcan Centaur rocket. The new engines will support ULA as it works to fulfill its commitments under a contract they recently received from Amazon, as part of the largest commercial launch contract in history, to support the launch of its Kuiper satellite constellation.

KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) — Blue Origin today announced New Glenn has been selected for 12 launches, with options for up to 15 additional launches to deploy Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite constellation. Project Kuiper’s constellation of 3,236 advanced satellites aims to deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband service globally. The launches are manifested for a five-year period from Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which Blue Origin has rebuilt from the ground up.  

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Arianespace PR) — Arianespace and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced an unprecedented launch service contract during the International Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, USA, on April 5. Under the terms of the contract, Arianespace will perform 18 Ariane 6 launches for Amazon’s Project Kuiper over a period of three years from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Among the 18 launches planned for the deployment of the Project Kuiper, 16 will be carried out with an advanced version of the Ariane 64.