SpaceX successfully launches another 10 Iridium Next satellites

This morning SpaceX completed their 14th launch of the year and second of the week with the successful deployment of another 10 Iridium Next satellites.  This was the second launch of the morning coming just 14 minutes after the Arianespace launch, however, the mission completed first due to the shorter coast phase before deployment.

Launching from their Vandenberg launch site the Falcon 9 lifted off at 07:39 am EDT. This was the third launch of the upgraded Block 5 variant of the Falcon 9, despite some heavy wind sheer in the Pacific ocean the booster successfully landed on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship Just Read The Instructions.

During this launch, SpaceX also attempted to recover one half of the payload fairing on their ship Mr. Stevens.  Unfortunately, due to the wind sheer in the Pacific, they were not able to recover the fairing this time.

This was the 59th Falcon 9 launch and 27th landing.


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