SpaceX performed the first U.S. launch of the year Jan. 11, completing the $3 billion Iridium Next constellation. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and released the final set of 10 Iridium Next satellites into orbit a little more than an hour later. The rocket's first stage made a successful landing on a drone ship offshore. The launch was Iridium's eighth and final Falcon 9 mission that placed a total of 75 next-generation Iridium satellites into orbit over a two-year span. Flight-tracking startup Aireon, whose sensors are hosted on Iridium Next, borrowed $200 million in December from a Deutsche Bank-led group of investor funds to help pay fees overdue to Iridium for carrying its payloads.
展开▼
