Amid launch bottleneck, Amazon has “hundreds” of satellites waiting to fly

Amazon is currently facing a significant delay as it has amassed hundreds of ready-to-launch satellites in Florida, awaiting their turn to join the company's low-Earth orbit internet constellation. Steve Metayer, the vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, revealed during a teleconference that the satellites are fully constructed and are currently stationed in a payload processing facility. "They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit," he noted, emphasizing the company's ongoing production rate of multiple satellites each day. The announcement comes just ahead of an important mission where an Ariane 64 rocket is scheduled to deliver 36 Amazon Leo satellites into orbit from a launch site in French Guiana. The liftoff is set for 7:53 AM ET (11:53 UTC) on Wednesday. Arianespace, the France-based launch partner, has become essential for Amazon's satellite deployment strategy, particularly since most of its 331 satellites have previously been launched using Atlas V rockets. However, the timeline is tightening, as Amazon has only one remaining mission scheduled with Atlas V before its retirement. To bolster its constellation's rollout, the company secured launch contracts four years ago for three new rockets: 18 missions on the Ariane 6, 12 on Blue Origin’s New Glenn, with additional options, and 38 on United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. As of now, only Arianespace has successfully completed launches, with two missions already conducted this year and another on the way. Neither New Glenn nor Vulcan has yet launched Amazon satellites. Metayer expressed confidence in Arianespace, highlighting their reliability in meeting launch schedules and ensuring safe satellite deployments. "They’re very reliable on their manifest dates, and they’re very reliable and safe on their insertions into orbit," he stated. Looking ahead, he noted that they anticipate executing the remaining 16 launches under their current contract and view Arianespace as a crucial partner for the long term.