SpaceX has launched its 14th Falcon 9 rocket to space this year.
The Elon Musk-led space technology company launched its rocket on Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as part of a mission with Iridium Communications, a satellite communications company.
The launch, which occurred at 8:37 am EDT, helped propel 10 Iridium Next satellites (IRDM) to low-earth orbit, where they will float to their designated place to deliver mobile satellite communications to Earth.
The Monday mission is the third of eight planned rocket launches that will send at least 70 Iridium Next satellites to space in order to replace and upgrade the company’s existing commercial satellite network, according to SpaceX.
Successful deployment of 10 @IridiumComm NEXT satellites to low-Earth orbit confirmed. Pic.twitter.com/w6pzeefmzO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 9, 2017
SpaceX also retrieved the first-stage booster of its Falcon 9 rocket after it landed on a robotic barge floating in the Pacific Ocean, making it the 17th time the aerospace company has recovered its rocket out of 22 attempts, according to CBS News. SpaceX attempts to retrieve its rockets in order to reuse them for future launches and cut costs.
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Musk posted on Instagram a picture of one of the Iridium satellites in space and said it is traveling “traveling at over 17,000 mph.”
The last of ten Iridium global communication satellites delivered to orbit several hundred miles… https://t.co/TG7hNkltQd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2017
The satellites, Musk wrote, “will circle the planet every 90 minutes.”