Iridium – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Video: Launch to landing replay of Monday’s Falcon 9 flight

October 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

Watch this replay of Monday’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, followed by touchdown of the booster’s first stage on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California, lands in Pacific

October 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 5:37 a.m. PDT (8:37 a.m. EDT; 1237 GMT) Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the third set of 10 new-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay network. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully landed on a platform in the Pacific Ocean a few minutes after liftoff.

Photos: SpaceX preps Falcon 9 rocket for launch from Vandenberg

October 8, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX aims to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with 10 new satellites for Iridium’s tracking and message relay constellation in low Earth orbit.

Timeline for Falcon 9’s third launch of Iridium satellites

October 8, 2017 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the third set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet.

Iridium’s third batch of new satellites set for Monday launch

October 8, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ten new satellites for Iridium’s $3 billion next-generation communications network are set for launch Monday from California’s Central Coast aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX sets target launch dates for back-to-back flights next month

September 26, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX engineers are readying two Falcon 9 rockets for launches Oct. 7 and Oct. 9 from Florida and California, setting up another quick turnaround to first deploy a large TV broadcasting satellite for SES and EchoStar over the United States with a previously-flown booster, then add 10 more spacecraft to Iridium’s fleet of new-generation voice and data relay network.

GRACE satellites to end research mission in November, before replacements launch

September 26, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two U.S.-German satellites launched more than 15 years ago to measure Earth’s changing gravity field will stop collecting data in November, a few months before a pair of replacement craft will launch to resume gravity measurements, NASA officials said.

SpaceX launches and lands second Falcon 9 rocket in two days

June 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two days after launching a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, SpaceX sent another mission into orbit Sunday from California’s Central Coast with 10 new satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay network.

Video: Rocketcam replay of Iridium satellite deployment

June 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of one of Iridium’s 10 communications satellites launched Sunday deploys from a dispenser mounted on the forward end of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 upper stage.

Video: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg, lands in Pacific

June 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and carried 10 Iridium communications satellites toward a perch in low Earth orbit, then the launcher’s first stage nailed a landing on a platform positioned in the Pacific Ocean.