Video: Post-launch news conference

With its liftoff just 18 days away to deploy a new Global Positioning System satellite, stacking of the next United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket began Monday at the vertical assembly building outside Complex 41.

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).

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand in August will carry four small spacecraft into orbit for BlackSky’s Earth-imaging constellation, the U.S. Air Force, and a French startup developing a fleet of maritime surveillance satellites, the company announced Monday.