SpaceX set to launch satellites from California air base

SpaceX is going for a weekend double-header with a planned launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, just two days after a successful satellite launch from Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off at 1:25 p.m. PDT Sunday from the coastal base, carrying 10 more satellites for Iridium Communications, which is replacing its entire constellation with next-generation satellites.

On Friday, a Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carried a communications satellite for Bulgaria into orbit.

That launch re-used a Falcon 9 first stage that originally flew in January and was recovered after launching from Vandenberg with the first batch of Iridium next-generation satellites.

Iridium plans to launch a total of 75 new satellites for its mobile voice and data communications system by mid-2018.

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