Rocket Loses 40 Amazon Satellites in Tenth Minute Failure

The United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket, built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, failed to orbit 40 Amazon Leo satellites due to a failure that occurred about ten minutes after liftoff in Florida. All satellites were destroyed, reports Reuters.

“Based on the data obtained by the launch leader, we confirm that the Vulcan rocket, which launched from launch complex 41, faced an emergency situation ten minutes after the start of the flight and was unable to put Amazon satellites into orbit,” ULA said in a statement.

The cause of the failure has not yet been established. The company said that they do not have specific data that would allow to find out the circumstances of the incident.

The failed launch was the first failure of the ULA mission in the company's two decades of existence and complicated its plans to launch Vulcan regularly to deploy Amazon's Leo satellite Internet network.

In late May, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded during ground tests at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rocket was preparing for the fourth launch, during which it was planned to launch Amazon Leo satellites into orbit. Blue Origin confirmed the emergency and said no one was hurt. Company owner Jeff Bezos said the cause of the explosion is still unknown and promised to resume flights.