SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday carrying 10 satellites to bolster the global data communications network for Virginia-based company, Iridium.
The white rocket blasted off at 5:37 am (1237 GMT), before sunrise, from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.
About seven minutes after launch, the tall portion of the Falcon 9, known as the first stage, returned to Earth for an upright landing.
This part of the vehicle fired its rocket engines and made a controlled landing on a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean.
"A successful landing of the first stage," SpaceX commentator John Innsbrucker said on the company's live webcast, as applause erupted at SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California.
Grainy video showed the rocket standing upright in the predawn darkness on the droneship, named "Just Read the Instructions."
The landing was a success for SpaceX's ongoing effort to re-use expensive rocket parts instead of jettisoning them into the ocean after launch.
About an hour later, SpaceX confirmed that all the satellites were successfully deployed.
"We are 10 for 10," Innsbrucker said.
In total SpaceX, which is headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, is launching a series of 75 satellites for Iridium's satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT by 2018.
Monday's launch was the third of eight planned for Iridium, as part of a $3 billion project to upgrade the company's global communications network.
Iridium Announces Third Iridium NEXT Launch Date
Iridium Communications reports that the upcoming Iridium NEXT launch has been targeted for September 30, 2017 at 6:30 a.m. PDT. This launch will deliver another 10 Iridium NEXT satellites to orbit on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and will bring the total number of Iridium NEXT satellites deployed to 30. SpaceX selected the September 30th launch date based on rocket and Vandenberg Air Force Base range … read more
