At 5: 37 a.m. local time on the 9th (8: 37 p.m. Beijing time on the 9th), Falcon 9 rocket carrying Iridium Communications Company 10 satellite was launched from vandenberg air force base, California.
The live video shows that about 7.5 minutes after the launch, the first stage of the rocket successfully landed on the Pacific unmanned ship. About 57 minutes after launch, the satellite began to be deployed in low-earth orbit. Shortly thereafter, the ground personnel announced in the live broadcast: "10 satellite was successfully put into orbit."
American Space Exploration Technology Company plans to launch 75 satellites for Iridium Communication Company in eight times, and it is expected to complete all tasks in the middle of 20 18. The 10 satellite launched this time is the third batch of Iridium NEXT, the next generation global satellite plan of Iridium Communications Company. In June this year and June 65438, Falcon 9 rocket put 20 satellites in the first two batches of this plan into orbit respectively.
American Space Exploration Technology Corporation was founded in 2002 by elon musk, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Headquartered in California, USA, it is a representative enterprise of American commercial aerospace. The launch on the 9th was the company's15th successful launch of Falcon 9 this year.
The purpose of the first stage recovery of rockets is to develop reusable launch vehicles. So far, the first stage of Falcon 9 rocket has been successfully recovered 17 times, including 9 times at sea and 8 times on land. Interestingly, Musk named the unmanned ship for rocket recovery with his favorite sci-fi works. The unmanned ship in the Pacific Ocean is called "please read the instructions", which means "watch the point and land according to the instructions" when the rocket lands. Another unmanned ship in the Atlantic Ocean is called "Of course, I still love you".