{"id":14281,"date":"2017-10-10T18:37:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T10:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/photos-falcon-9-rockets-predawn-launch-from-california\/"},"modified":"2017-10-10T18:37:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T10:37:56","slug":"photos-falcon-9-rockets-predawn-launch-from-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/photos-falcon-9-rockets-predawn-launch-from-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s predawn launch from California"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket took off Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with 10 new satellites for Iridium\u2019s upgraded communications network in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Iridium payloads climbed away from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:37:01 a.m. PDT (8:37:01 a.m. EDT; 1237:01 GMT), soaring into a moonlit predawn sky.<\/p>\n

The launch was timed to precisely place the 10 satellites into Plane 4 of the Iridium constellation, which is spread around the globe in six orbital planes, or pathways, to ensure worldwide coverage.<\/p>\n

Read our full story for details on the mission.<\/p>\n

The photos below show the Falcon 9 rocket taking off from Vandenberg, including long exposure photographs illustrating the launcher\u2019s course downrange. The bottom two images show the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage beginning a \u201cboost-back\u201d maneuver to prepare for landing on a drone ship offshore in the Pacific Ocean, and the first rays of sunrise illuminating the rocket\u2019s high-altitude exhaust trail.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Michael Peterson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jim Araos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Alex Ustick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Gene Blevins\/LA Daily News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked into orbit before dawn Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ian Dudley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Gene Blevins\/LA Daily News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Gene Blevins\/LA Daily News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Credit: Gene Blevins\/LA Daily News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket took off Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with 10 new satellites for Iridium\u2019s upgraded communications network in low Earth orbit. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Iridium payloads climbed away from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:37:01 a.m. PDT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2776,1756,1573,2901,479,530,3163,2193],"class_list":["post-14281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aireon","tag-ais","tag-drone-ship","tag-exactearth","tag-falcon-9","tag-iridium","tag-iridium-certus","tag-iridium-next"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14281\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}