LOS ANGELES, 23 May (BelTA - Xinhua) - U.S. private space firm SpaceX launched two new Earth-observing satellites for NASA and five commercial communications satellites for Iridium on a used Falcon 9 rocket in a ride-share mission on Tuesday.
The unique rideshare mission blasted off from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the state of California, at 12:47 p.m. PDT (1947 GMT).
This Iridium-6/GRACE-FO Mission first deployed the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) satellites approximately 11 minutes and 30 seconds after launch.
Tuesday's launch also carried to orbit five more satellites for Iridium Communications' second-generation Iridium-NEXT constellation, joining 50 such spacecraft already in operation.
A total of eight Iridium NEXT launches are planned with SpaceX, which will deliver 75 new satellites to orbit. In total, 81 satellites are being built, with 66 in the operational constellation, nine serving as on-orbit spares and six as ground spares.
