SpaceX Overcomes Weather Delays to Launch Kuiper Payload
SpaceX has successfully launched 24 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites following a series of postponements driven by unfavorable weather conditions. The mission, named Kuiper Falcon 03 (KF-03), lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station shortly after 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 UTC).
A Launch Delayed by Weather
The launch faced multiple delays over several days due to poor weather both at the launch site and over the booster recovery zone. The U.S. 45th Weather Squadron had forecasted high chances of favorable conditions, but cautioned there remained “moderate” risk to recovery operations Conditions such as elevated winds and potential cumulus cloud violations were flagged as the main hazards.
The Flight and Booster Recovery
The mission used the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1091, which had flown previously on the KF-02 mission. After separation, the booster successfully landed on the drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas approximately eight minutes after liftoff — marking the 128th landing on that vessel and the 517th booster landing overall.
Satellite Deployment and Constellation Growth
More than 56 minutes after liftoff, the deployment sequence began and concluded within eight minutes. With this launch, the Kuiper constellation now counts 153 satellites in low Earth orbit This marks the sixth launch for the program: three launches used United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5, and two prior launches used Falcon 9
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