SpaceX launches 10 new Iridium Communications satellites; old Iridium satellites to be deorbitted

Falcon 9 rocket. Image: SpaceX[/caption]The booster lifted off from coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base before dawn Monday. Its first stage successfully returned from space and set down on a landing platform floating in the Pacific Ocean as the second stage went on to deploy the satellites in orbit.It was the third successful launch in the McLean, Virginia-based company’s campaign to replace its entire globe-circling fleet with a total of 75 next-generation communications satellites. Five more SpaceX launches are expected to complete the process by mid-2018.The satellites also carry payloads for global real-time aircraft tracking and a ship-tracking service. The old Iridium satellites are being deorbited.