4K video: Wide-angle view of Falcon 9 hotfire

Rocket Lab’s first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company’s privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data.

A previously-flown Falcon 9 booster blasted off Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on California’s Central Coast with 10 new-generation communications satellites for Iridium. Launch occurred 8:27 p.m. EST (5:27 p.m. PST; 0127 GMT).

A Soyuz rocket took off from French Guiana on Friday with Hispasat 36W-1, a communications satellite designed to connect Latin America and Europe with video, data and cellular phone services.