SpaceX launches 24 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper on July 16. Photo: SpaceX

SpaceX launched the third Amazon Project Kuiper mission early Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral, marking the first SpaceX launch in Amazon’s constellation deployment. 

SpaceX launched 24 Kuiper satellites at 2:30 a.m. EDT on July 16 from Cape Canaveral. Post-launch, Amazon confirmed its team took over command of the satellites and initial health checks are underway. 

This was Amazon’s third launch after starting full-scale deployment in late April. It brings Project Kuiper to a count of 78 satellites. 

Amazon said this is the first of three Project Kuiper launches with SpaceX. 

Project Kuiper will compete directly with SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which has more than 7,800 satellites in orbit. Amazon signed a launch deal with its competitor in late 2023 after a group of shareholders sued the company, alleging it did not consider SpaceX when it awarded launch contracts to other major launchers, including to Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin.