ULA Atlas V Rocket Launch Live Today – Watch the Countdown, Launch Time, Mission Details & Stream Here

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket blazed off Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:53 p.m. EDT Monday, April 27, carrying 29 Amazon Leo broadband satellites on the LA-06 mission—tying the heavy-lift record for the workhorse booster and lighting up skies from Florida to New Jersey. Spaceflight fans across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic reported sighting the golden plume as the five-solid-booster Atlas V 551 thundered north-eastward over the Atlantic. The flawless ascent marked ULA’s second Atlas V flight this month and the company’s fastest turnaround at Space Launch Complex 41, trimming nearly three days off its previous pad-reuse record. Weighing in at roughly 19 metric tons, the LA-06 stack matches Atlas V’s all-time payload mass record, a feat made possible by the powerful 551 configuration and its five-meter payload fairing. The satellites join Amazon’s rapidly expanding low-Earth-orbit constellation designed to deliver global high-speed internet. CEO Andy Jassy has reiterated that limited commercial service is slated to begin in mid-2026, keeping the project on track despite an aggressive launch cadence that already counts six dedicated Atlas V missions. Key facts at a glance: • Launch vehicle: Atlas V 551 with five Aerojet Rocketdyne SRBs and a Centaur upper stage • Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida • Liftoff time: 8:53 p.m. EDT (00:53 UTC April 28) • Payload: 29 Amazon Leo satellites, LA-06 mission • Orbit: 590 km circular, 51.9-degree inclination • Mission length to deployment: ~1 hour, 45 minutes Why it matters: 1. Heaviest Atlas V payload tie: Demonstrates the veteran launcher’s brute capability as it nears retirement. 2. Internet from space: Each successful batch moves Amazon closer to joining SpaceX’s Starlink in the lucrative satellite-broadband market. 3. Record pad turnaround: ULA’s faster flow frees up the Eastern Range for an increasingly crowded 2026 manifest. What’s next: Atlas V has just four flights left on ULA’s roster before the next-generation Vulcan Centaur takes over. The company’s next launch is the USSF-124 national-security mission, targeting late May. Amazon, meanwhile, will shift to Vulcan and Blue Origin’s New Glenn for the bulk of its 3,236-satellite constellation, keeping Cape Canaveral’s skyline busy well into the decade.