STS-135: The final shuttle launch

Ten more satellites for Iridium’s commercial communications network flew into orbit Friday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, raising the total number of upgraded Iridium spacecraft launched to 50 and clearing the way for liftoff of a SpaceX supply ship Monday from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station.

SpaceX’s final Falcon 9 launch of the year carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. SpaceX aborted a launch attempt Thursday morning to assess a second stage sensor reading, but the Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) Saturday. The rocket’s stage landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes later.

Four weeks, three launches, two coasts. October was an unprecedented month for United Launch Alliance and its venerable workhorse rocket.