VA268 mission in a nutshell

The VA268 mission is the second in a series of 18 Ariane 6 launches planned to deploy the Amazon LEO constellation.

Using Ariane 64, the most powerful version of the Ariane 6 launcher, this mission will carry a second batch of 32 Amazon LEO satellites. It follows a first successful launch on February 12 and confirms the ramp-up of missions dedicated to this program.

These satellites will be placed into low Earth orbit to gradually strengthen Amazon’s global network. The goal is to provide fast, reliable, and accessible internet service, especially in areas that are still underserved by traditional infrastructure.

In the long term, the project relies on a constellation of several thousand satellites, connected to ground stations and existing networks.

Three main parts ground

Amazon Leo has three main parts : ground infrastructure, satellites, and customer terminals :

- Amazon’s ground infrastructure includes gateway antennas that securely send and receive customer data to and from satellites, along with telemetry, tracking, and control (TT& antennas that keep the satellites properly operating Global networking connects those gateway antennas to the internet, public cloud, or private networks

- The satellites relay data traffic to and from the gateway antennas and customers

- The customer terminals are the technology that Amazon Leo customers use to receive internet service These antennas Leo Nano, Leo Pro, and Leo Ultra combine antennas and processors into a single, compact system to deliver connectivity.
 

The nominal duration of the mission (from liftoff to separation of all the satellites) is: 1 hour and 54 minutes.

Separation of all the satellites : 1 hour and 54 minutes