Thursday, March 29, 2018

SpaceX Set To Launch Payload From Vandenberg Friday Morning

Hawthorne-based SpaceX is getting set to launch another mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base, just north of Santa Barbara, at 7:13 a.m. PDT. SpaceX said that the Iridium-5 NEXT mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg, and will be the fifth set of 10 satellites being launched for Iridum's satellite constellation. SpaceX has a contract for a series of a total of 75 satellites for Iridium. SpaceX said that, in the case of any issues, a backup launch opportunity will happen on Saturday, March 31st, at 7:08 a.m. PDT. The first stage of the Falcon 9 being used in this launch was "pre-flown" in October of last year, for the Iridium-3 mission.