SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon Test Flight (December 8, 2010)

The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service rode a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff occurred at 11:20 p.m. EST (0420 UTC).

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster steered toward a first-ever landing on a drone ship floating 185 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral in the Atlantic Ocean minutes after blasting off from Florida with a space station cargo ship.

Eight of Iridium’s first ten upgraded communications satellites launched in January started providing voice and data relay service ahead of schedule, and SpaceX says it can launch up to 40 more Iridium spacecraft by the end of the year, Iridium officials reported Thursday.