Amazon says a 40-satellite Vulcan launch is targeted for November 13

Amazon says its first Vulcan launch for Leo will carry 40 satellites. In a post dated November 9, 2026, the company said Leo Vulcan 1, or LV-01, is targeting liftoff on November 13, 2026, from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It called the 40 satellites the largest Leo payload delivered to date. The company did not give a liftoff time for the November 13 target.

The flight is the first of 38 launches on contract with United Launch Alliance. Amazon said Vulcan will carry more than 1,500 first-generation Leo satellites across those missions, more than any other rocket in the program. It said the launch portfolio also includes Arianespace, Blue Origin, and SpaceX. It said the company completed its 1,000th satellite in early September and now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites.

Amazon said this Vulcan flight debuts two hardware changes. It will be the first mission to fly a shorter Centaur V upper stage, and the first to fly Vulcan's six-booster configuration. The company said the first Leo-Vulcan missions will each debut new hardware, and that the satellite count will change as the rocket's performance changes. It said initial missions will carry 40 satellites, with larger loads planned later.

The flight is also the first to use new Amazon-funded pad gear. Amazon said that includes a dedicated vertical integration facility, VIF-A, and a new mobile launch platform. It said the gear lets ULA prepare two Vulcan missions at once and cut the gap between launches to days or weeks. It said LV-02 is already being prepared in VIF-G and is expected within weeks of a normal LV-01 flight.

A later European flight is also on the calendar. Amazon said the next Arianespace mission, Leo Europe 4, is targeting no earlier than November 23 from Kourou, French Guiana. It said more than 100 missions remain, and that it expects to expand service after an initial rollout later this year. Melissa Wuerl, Amazon Leo's director of launch systems, said Vulcan will launch close to half the first-generation constellation and will be the program's primary workhorse over the next several years.