ULA Launches Penultimate Atlas V 551 on LA-07 Mission
A tight liftoff shot of Atlas V on the LA-07 mission.
Image credit: Asher Brinkman / Launch Heaven Media
On May 29th, at 7:53 PM EDT, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 carrying the seventh operational Amazon Leo mission, LA-07 (Leo-Atlas 07).
The launch delivered 29 Leo satellites to Low Earth Orbit, making the total number of satellites delivered by ULA and Atlas V 197. Only one more Leo mission is planned for Atlas V, which is currently slated for no earlier than July 2026. During this upcoming mission, LA-08, the final Atlas V 551 variant will fly. This version of the Atlas V vehicle has been active since 2006, with its first mission delivering NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft to flyby Pluto.
A wide angle photo of Atlas V lifting off on the LA-07 mission.
Image credit: Asher Brinkman / Launch Heaven Media
This launch brings the total Amazon Leo constellation to 331 operational satellites on orbit after twelve launches from ULA, SpaceX, and Arianespace. Amazon was previously required by the FCC to have half of its planned final constellation, which is 1,618 satellites, on orbit by July 30th, 2026. However, earlier this year, Amazon requested an extension which puts their new deadline at July 30th, 2028, giving them two more years to deploy 1,287 satellites. This will be no easy feat, and they have just recently undergone another setback in getting these satellites to orbit with the explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn, while it was undergoing hotfire testing to prepare for its first launch of Amazon Leo satellites. This completely destroyed the launchpad, meaning it will be quite some time until Blue Origin is ready to launch again. Amazon has booked 24 launches of the New Glenn vehicle for its constellation, with 48 satellites per launch, its largest carrier by quite a bit. Amazon has also had setbacks with another chosen launch vehicle, ULA’s Vulcan rocket, which has had issues with its GEM63XL solid rocket boosters encountering issues in flight, grounding the Vulcan vehicle twice now. Even with this two year extension, it will not be easy for Amazon to hit this 1,618 satellite requirement due to these ongoing delays.
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