A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket assembled in Alabama lifted off Friday to deliver the first two satellites for Amazon's Project Kuiper network.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with deep Alabama roots lifted off from Cape Canaveral days ago on a milestone mission that sets the stage for ULA rockets to deploy satellites for an ambitious Amazon broad network. The Atlas V 501 rocket blasting off last Friday launched the Protoflight mission for Amazon's Project Kuiper, a low-Earth-orbit satellite network that will provide fast, affordable internet service to under-resourced communities around the world. ULA's factory in Decatur played a key role in the successful mission, which delivered two satellites to orbit 311 miles above Earth. Workers at the Alabama facility handled final assembly of the Atlas V and fabricated its booster, as well as producing the rocket's Centaur second stage. Partner Beyond Gravity, on the ULA campus, fabricated the 5-meter payload fairing that encased the satellites as the rocket's nose cone. "This initial launch is the…