Jan 23, 2019
SpaceX launched its eighth and final batch of Iridium Next communications satellites into orbit on Jan. 11, 2019. See photos of the historic mission here!
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SpaceX launched its eighth and final batch of Iridium Next communications satellites into orbit on Jan. 11, 2019. See photos of the historic mission here!
SpaceX is targeting launch of Iridium-6/GRACE-FO on Tuesday, May 22 from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The instantaneous launch opportunity is at 12:47 p.m. PDT, or 19:47 UTC. The GRACE-FO satellites will be deployed approximately eleven minutes and thirty seconds after launch, followed by the deployment of five Iridium® NEXT satellites beginning about an hour after launch.
A backup instantaneous launch opportunity is available on Wednesday, May 23 at 12:42 p.m. PDT, or 19:42 UTC.
Falcon 9’s first stage for the Iridium-6/GRACE-FO mission previously supported the Zuma mission from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in January 2018. SpaceX will not attempt to recover Falcon 9’s first stage after launch.
Iridium NEXT Fourth Launch Highlights
Iridium-4 mission launching in 2 hours
112 miles away from my vantage point in Bear Valley Springs, CA, this is footage of the Falcon 9 launch on the morning of October 9th, 2017 from Vandenberg AFB. SpaceX was sending up the next batch of Iridium-3 NEXT satellites. Was a beautiful sight to see with the naked eye, especially the 1st stage separation. Canon 7DmkII, 70-200mm lens.