Photo: Arianespace

Arianespace inaugurated a new configuration for the Ariane 6 rocket, placing 32 Amazon Leo satellites into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on Thursday. The mission marked the first in a series of 18 launches contracted by the two companies.

The mission took off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 1:45 p.m. local time, and lasted 1 hour and 54 minutes. It was Amazon Leo’s first deployment by a European launcher.

It was also the first mission for Arianespace’s Ariane 64 launcher, a new configuration of its Ariane 6 platform that utilizes 4 boosters. The payload was the heaviest the company had placed into orbit.

“This successful entry into service once again highlights the quality of the teams at ArianeGroup and its European partners,” ArianeGroup CEO Martin Sion said. “Now, Europe has two versions of Ariane 6 heavy launcher to meet all of its needs. Our teams are already working to improve the launcher’s competitiveness through the development of evolutions that will increase its payload capacity.”

This launch takes the Amazon Leo constellation to 212 satellites. Amazon leadership recently said the company is expecting 20 launches this year, and more than 30 in 2027. Amazon Leo is a LEO satellite broadband competitor to SpaceX Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb targeting the consumer, enterprise, and government markets.