Rocket Launches Today (Dec. 16, 2025): Amazon Leo’s Atlas V Liftoff, China’s Ziyuan Mapping Satellite, and the Next 48 Hours in Spaceflight
United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral at 3:28 a.m. EST Tuesday, carrying 27 Amazon Leo broadband satellites. China sent its Ziyuan III 04 Earth-observation satellite into orbit on a Long March-4B from Taiyuan. A separate smallsat launch attempt was scrubbed.