Jason 3 pre-launch news conference

A space-bound NASA satellite was hauled aboard a military transport aircraft from a Southern California factory to the launch site in Florida on Friday and its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket booster arrived by sea from the manufacturing plant in Alabama today.

Ten new satellites joined Iridium’s global voice and data relay constellation Sunday after a successful launch, and landing, of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff occurred at 1:25 p.m. PDT (4:25 p.m. EDT; 2025 GMT).

Prior to launch, SpaceX sent 656 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit so far this year. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-55 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 UTC).