SpaceX just deployed ten Iridium NEXT satellites, one every 100 seconds while in circular orbit. This morning’s launch from the California coast went flawlessly, and the booster hit the bullseye on the “Just Read the Instructions” drone ship at sea.
This is the first of seven launches to upgrade 70 Iridium satellites to the NEXT generation, in what they describe as “one of the largest ‘tech upgrades’ in history. The process of replacing the satellites one-by-one in a constellation of this size and scale has never been completed before.” (Iridium-1 press kit)
More screenshots from today’s webcast below.
The booster flipping over to return toward the launch area. The waffle fins guide it through the upper atmosphere. Although the air is thin, the supersonic speed of the booster makes it feel like it is moving through syrup. And those special fins deliver the Aunt Jemima treatment. 
The SpaceX booster coming down to the Drone Ship at sea, with the legs down, and about to do the final burn for a soft landing: 
The SpaceX Falcon 9 on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" at sea off the coast of California: 
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