Video: Delta 4 launch highlights

A solid-fueled satellite launcher backed by a Chinese start-up named LandSpace fired away from the Jiuquan space center in the Gobi Desert Saturday on its inaugural flight, but the rocket failed to place its microsatellite payload into orbit.

SpaceX’s fifth launch for Iridium’s upgraded mobile communications network occurred at 7:13 a.m. PDT (10:13 a.m. EDT; 1413 GMT) Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Falcon 9 rocket flew with a reused first stage, but SpaceX did not intend to recover the booster after Friday’s launch.

Mexico’s advanced mobile communications satellite launched last month for humanitarian and national security uses has successfully blossomed in space.