ULA's Amazon satellite launch now set for Monday liftoff at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

(This story has been updated with new weather forecast information.)
Take two: United Launch Alliance now aims to launch an Atlas V rocket on Amazon's second Project Kuiper broadband satellite mission at 6:54 a.m. Monday, June 23, seven days after a scrub.
Slotted to soar a half-hour after sunrise, the high-profile mission has a 30-minute window from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
What is Project Kuiper? It's Amazon's planned $10 billion constellation of 3,232 satellites to provide high-speed internet service around the world. ULA launched the ecommerce giant's first 27 production satellites on April 28 from the Space Force installation. This mission will add another 27 to the mix.
On Monday, June 16, ULA scrubbed the initial Project Kuiper 2 launch attempt about 35 minutes before liftoff, citing "an engineering observation of an elevated purge temperature within the booster engine." Technicians spent the past week working the issue.
Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
Countdown Timer
Look for live FLORIDA TODAY Space Team blog coverage to kick off two hours before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space. We'll link to ULA's webcast about 20 minutes before launch.
Bolstered by five solid rocket boosters, the 205-foot Atlas V will fly to the northeast in its most powerful configuration.
ULA announced the forecast calls for 80% "go for launch" weather, with cumulus clouds posing a threat. The National Weather Service forecast calls for a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms Sunday night with mostly clear skies, an overnight low around 77 degrees, and east-southeast wind of 5 to 10 mph at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
In the years to come, ULA is slated to launch six more Atlas Vs and 38 Vulcan rockets on Project Kuiper satellite-deployment missions. In addition, Amazon is contracted for more than 30 missions with SpaceX, Blue Origin and Arianespace.
Amazon is wrapping up work on a $120 million, 100,000-square-foot satellite processing plant at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. An early $20 million site expansion includes a 42,000-square-foot flight hardware building.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space. Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Amazon Project Kuiper launch rescheduled after Atlas V engine issue

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

an hour ago

• Yahoo

Dangerous heat wave threatens Colorado to Maine

Nearly 151 million people were under heat alerts from Colorado to Maine on Saturday, with major cities like New York City, Washington, D.C., Denver and Chicago set to be directly impacted with life-threatening temperatures. NBC News' Adrienne Broaddus has the latest.

Medscape

an hour ago

• Medscape

Orforglipron Lowers A1c, Weight in Early Type 2 Diabetes

CHICAGO — The investigational non-peptide small-molecule oral GLP-1 agonist orforglipron significantly reduced A1c over 40 weeks in adults with early type 2 diabetes, according to the results of ACHIEVE-1 sponsored by Eli Lilly. In the trial, orforglipron reduced A1c to the 6.5% range and produced clinically meaningful weight loss with a safety profile similar to that of other GLP-1 drugs. ACHIEVE-1 is the first of seven phase 3 studies of the safety and efficacy of the drug in over 6000 patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity, Orforglipron and other similar non-peptide small molecules "have the potential to be widely accepted as a much earlier therapy for type 2 diabetes," Julio Rosenstock, MD, senior scientific advisor for Velocity Clinical Research and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, said at a press briefing here at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 85th Scientific Sessions. The findings were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine . Orforglipron is a once-daily non-peptide small molecule that can be taken any time of day without restrictions on meals or water intake. This contrasts with the currently approved oral GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide (Rybelsus, Novo Nordisk), a peptide that ideally should be taken while fasting and with no food or water for at least 30 minutes after ingestion to prevent degradation. Lilly is the farthest along in the development of a small-molecule non-peptide GLP-1 agonist, but at least two others are in phase 3 trials, including CX11 (also known as VCT220) from Corxel Pharmaceuticals and HRS-7535 from Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and Kailera Therapeutics. Several more are in phase 2 trials. As a class, the oral non-peptide small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonists "have the potential to open the access for more people because they're easier to take, they're simpler to produce, and in theory, they should be less expensive. So you can see the potential for these drugs," Rosenstock said. However, Amy E. Rothberg, MD, clinical professor of internal medicine and of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, told Medscape Medical News that she's concerned because, unlike injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists, "most oral medications are metabolized by the liver. The enzymes that metabolize them may be affected by people's weight. Therefore, if you have obesity, the distribution and the kinetics of the drug may be different than someone who is normal weight. Also, if someone loses weight from having a higher BMI to a lower weight, that may affect the drug distribution and the drug bioavailability." She believes that "the companies need to look at drug exposure before and after weight loss because efficacy and safety could be affected by weight change." First Phase 3 Orforglipron Data Meets Endpoints In ACHEIVE-1, 559 participants with early (duration range, 4.0-5.1 years) type 2 diabetes with A1c levels of 7.0%-9.5% (mean 8.0%) using only diet and exercise and a BMI 23.0 kg/m2 or greater, were randomized equally to receive orforglipron 3 mg, 12 mg, or 36 mg, or placebo once daily for 40 weeks. The primary endpoint, percentage-point change in A1c from baseline to week 40, showed reductions of 1.24, 1.47, 1.48 for the 3-mg, 12-mg, and 36-mg doses, respectively, compared with a 0.41 percentage-point reduction with placebo. All three orforglipron doses produced significant A1c reductions compared with placebo ( P < .001 for all comparisons). At week 40, the mean A1c level ranged from 6.5% to 6.7% with orforglipron, Rosenstock reported. Percentage of body weight losses from baseline to week 40 were 4.5%, 5.8%, and 7.6% for the 3-mg, 12-mg, and 36-mg doses, respectively, versus 1.7% with placebo. The most common adverse events were mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal events, most of which occurred during dose escalation. Gastrointestinal events leading to drug discontinuation occurred in 2.8%, 2.2%, and 5.7% of patients, respectively, for the three orforglipron doses, versus none with placebo. This was similar to what has been observed with other oral and injected GLP-1 agonists, Rosenstock said. "We did not see any surprises. You're going to see the same ranges of nausea and vomiting as with semaglutide and tirzepatide." There were no episodes of severe hypoglycemia. The overall proportions discontinuing permanently due to adverse events ranged from 4% to 8% with orforglipron versus 1% with placebo. "A Remarkable Scientific Achievement" Asked to comment, Simeon Taylor, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Institutional Research Training Program in Diabetes & Obesity at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, told Medscape Medical News : "This landmark scientific achievement ushers in a new chapter in the development of GLP-1 agonists." Taylor pointed out that "orforglipron's glycemic efficacy is only slightly less than monotherapy with Ozempic" and that it "has somewhat more placebo-subtracted weight loss efficacy in people with type 2 diabetes" than Ozempic. Overall, he said, "It is a remarkable scientific achievement to have developed a first-in-class orally bioavailable organic chemical entity with efficacy comparable to a third-generation injectable peptide drug. It is likely that many people with type 2 diabetes will be attracted to the option of an orally bioavailable drug." The other four ACHIEVE trials, to be reported later in 2025, will examine orforglipron in combination with metformin versus dapagliflozin (ACHIEVE-2), in combination with metformin compared to oral semaglutide (ACHIEVE-3), combined with multiple therapies versus insulin glargine (ACHIEVE-4), and in combination with insulin versus placebo (ACHIEVE-5). Another Lilly phase 3 trial, ATTAIN, is evaluating orforglipron for weight management. Results from ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 will also be presented later in 2025. "Lilly remains on track to submit orforglipron for weight management to global regulatory agencies by the end of this year and for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in 2026," according to a company statement. Rosenstock has reported receiving research/grant support from, serving on advisory boards for, and/or receiving consulting fees/honoraria from Applied Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Biomea Fusion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Corcept, Eli Lilly, Hanmi, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Oramed, Pfizer, Regeneron, Regor, Roche, Sanofi, Structure Therapeutics, and Terns. Taylor has reported receiving payments from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for an inventor's share of a patent covering metreleptin as a treatment for generalized lipodystrophy. He was employed by Eli Lilly in 2000-2002 and Bristol Myers Squibb in 2002-2013.

CBS News

an hour ago

• CBS News

Los Angeles County firefighters prepositioned due to "critical fire weather"

With red flag warnings in place for critical fire weather in Los Angeles County on Saturday, state and city leaders have taken a proactive approach to the potential need for firefighters. National Weather Service officials issued the red flag warning on Saturday, which they expected to last from 1 p.m. until at least 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. Areas affected by the warnings include the I-5 corridor and the Antelope Valley, where NWS officials say "strong to damaging" winds, some of which could reach up to 65 mph, were expected. This, paired with low humidity in the area, could create dangerous fire conditions. In response, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved the prepositioning of some firefighting resources. "The Governor's Office of Emergency Services has approved the prepositioning of firefighting resources in Los Angeles County in response to Red Flag Warnings and critical fire weather conditions forecasted to impact Southern California through Sunday, June 22, 2025," said a release from Newsom's office. "This proactive approach has proven to be a critical component of California's wildfire response strategy, reducing response times and containing fires before they escalate into major incidents. These efforts ensure that both ground and air resources are ready to respond quickly, minimizing the potential impact of new fires." In January, a series of red flag warnings were issued due to similar weather conditions. The extremely high-powered winds and low levels of humidity created conditions that saw several devastating wild fires, including the Palisades and Eaton fires, break out and destroy thousands of homes and buildings.