Iridium OneWeb Mission

On Saturday, May 20 at 6:16 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched the Iridium OneWeb mission to a low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

This was the eleventh launch of this booster, which previously supported the launch of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, and seven Starlink missions.

[REAPER]

Watching the stage 1 come back and land on the drone ship is still one of the coolest things ever.

[ramosel]

Watched the whole thing on the big TV this morning over a cup of tea. Great start to the weekend, thanks SpaceX!

[thedarkside]

19:37//28:07 doesn't matter how many launches/landings I watch, it just never gets old.

[MWPhotography-pp]

Time stamps:
Liftoff: 19:39
Max-Q: 20:48
MECO: 22:15
Entry: 26:28
Landing: 28:06

[danapeck]

Thanks! About twice the launch tempo originally promised for the shuttle, amazingly amazing

[FutureAIDev]

I love how the exhaust plume expands as the rocket ascends!

[Marco-cekr]

I like the boost back protocol. It returns exactly where it was launched

[marshallpoe]

I'm ready for SpaceX to show us a televised re-entry of a Stage 2 live.

[Real]

193rd recovered rocket.

We went how many decades with 0 and now we have SpaceX approaching 200. Just wild.

[popsyk]

Much better technical coverage Shenna, congrats SpaceX, never gets boring...

[jonmossonline]

Amazing coverage and awesome informative commentary. Thank you!

[steveblanchard]

232 ! amazing and fantastic, seen most and they never dull a moment

[michaelgroh]

Watched the launch this morning. Could not see the rocket leave the pad because of the Vandenberg fog, but you sure could hear and feel it as it went skyward.

[MrMcbear]

Telling you the tech boom in the next 5 years is gonna be insane. So many new upgraded satellites being sent up. We've already had GPS sattelites upgraded, and the next one is set to launch in 2026. And with how quickly the starlink blanket is being layed out we'll soon have permanent connection to the internet. Imagine a relay station to the moon when we go back. Seeing cameras and live streams of the lunar base. Things are about to get nuts. I want to retire early so I can watch it all comfortably :)

[jerryarcher]

Congratulations SpaceX on another successful launch and deployment.

[LoanwordEggcorn]

Just gotta say, Siva does a really good job at narration.

[bmitch]

Fantastic job with today's commentary.

[robburns]

When I worked at NASA (LARC) I found out about Iridium flares, where the sun reflects off the satellite and is very visible from the ground. I saw one by accident, and asked the guys at NASA what it was. It looks like a police spotlight shining down, except that it's WAY up there. It only lasts a handful of seconds. There are websites that show when and where Iridium flares are visible.

[ireadalota]

Was up late reading. Just watched the recording. Thank you for posting.

[tedphillips]

Great anouncer today thanks. Congrats on a great mission,