SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from California on satellite delivery mission

SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Base in California on Friday, Dec. 22 to deliver 10 satellites to low-Earth Orbit, the space transport company said in press release.

The 10 IridiumSM NEXT satellites are the fourth in a series of satellite deliveries that will replace the world’s largest satellite network.

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SpaceX said completion of this process will be one of the largest “tech upgrades” in history.

“The process of replacing the satellites one-by-one in a constellation of this size and scale has never been completed before,” SpaceX said in a statement.