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Arianespace deployed another 32 Amazon Leo satellites to low Earth orbit, boosting the constellation to more than 300 spacecraft, and plans to debut a more powerful version of the Ariane 64 on the next flight.
“For the very first time we will equip the Ariane 64 with what we call the P160,” Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès said April 30. Using the more powerful P160C boosters rather than the P120, which has been used until now, will allow the company to deploy more Amazon satellites, he added.
The P160C boosters, along with an upgraded upper-stage Vinci engine and some launcher optimizations that are also in the works, will represent the Blk. 2 configuration capable of placing 24 metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit. The design, in part, was driven by Amazon Leo needs.
The April 30 VA268 mission was the second flight of an Arianespace Ariane 64, the four-booster, heavy-lift version of the Ariane 6 rocket that took off from the European spaceport in French Guiana. Both Ariane 64 flights this year were for Amazon.
It was the second Amazon Leo launch within a week after a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lofted 29 of the broadband satellites to low Earth orbit. Another Atlas V launch for Amazon is due in May.
Amazon is pushing to build out its constellation as it seeks to secure market share in competition with SpaceX and its Starlink system. Amazon initially plans to deploy 3,232 spacecraft. It has spent more than $10 billion on the system and has launch commitments through early 2029, it has said.
Arianespace still targets seven to eight Ariane 6 missions this year.
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