Amazon Leo expands Ariane 6 contract to 24 missions

Amazon Leo has announced six additional launch missions using the European Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket, bringing the total number of contracted missions to 24. The announcement was made during the International Space Summit in Paris.

Chris Weber, a program manager for Amazon Leo, stated that the decision to partner with the European launch capability was a bet made in 2022 that has now proven successful due to the technical performance of the Ariane 6. To date, the most powerful version of the launcher, the Ariane 64, has placed approximately 100 satellites into low Earth orbit for the Amazon constellation. A recent flight carrying 36 satellites set a record for the heaviest commercial payload ever sent into space.

The Amazon Leo constellation currently operates just under 400 satellites, which is sufficient to begin providing services, though the ultimate goal is to deploy more than 3,200 satellites. Additionally, Arianespace noted a future collaboration with the Finnish group Iceye for Earth observation satellite launches.