SpaceX Iridium-3 Alternative

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12:37:01 UTC on Monday, October 9, 2017 to dispatch the third group of ten Iridium-NEXT communications satellites into orbit. Checking off its 14th success of the year, the two stage rocket was in action for 72 minutes to boost its payload into a 625-Kilometer orbit while the first stage’s journey from its California launch pad to the JRTI Drone Ship took a mere seven and a half minutes, giving SpaceX its 13th successful booster landing in a row.