A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off carrying Amazon's two prototype relay stations for a space-based internet service it calls Project Kuiper, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., October 6, 2023. The launch is the first to test Amazon's internet satellites in space before deploying some 3,200 more. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Amazon’s (AMZN.O) first pair of prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper internet network were launched into space on Friday from Florida, the company’s first step before it deploys thousands more in orbit to beam the internet globally and compete with SpaceX’s Starlink.
An Atlas 5 rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance lifted off from Florida shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time (1800 GMT), carrying the two Kuiper test satellites, a long-awaited mission Amazon initially had intended to launch using different rockets.
