Amazon's third set of operational Kuiper satellites lifted off at 2:30 am EST (06:30 UTC) on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket arced downrange over the Atlantic Ocean, heading northeast to place its payload into the Kuiper constellation at an inclination of 51.9 degrees to the equator.

Choosing SpaceX (which already operates Starlink, Kuiper’s main competitor) marks a shift from Amazon’s prior “launch-agnostic” stance. Amazon has contracted three Falcon 9 flights among 83 total launches across ULA, Arianespace, Blue Origin, and SpaceX to meet the schedule locked in by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).