SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket may finally be launched on Friday, Jan. 11 after several postponements.
SpaceX is hoping to make its first launch this year from the Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-4E on Friday at 7:31 a.m. EST, according to Space.com. If the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket is successful, this would also mark the base's first liftoff for 2019.
The Falcon 9 rocket will be carrying 10 satellites for Iridium Communications in a mission that has been dubbed Iridium-8. This would be the eighth and final launch in a series of Iridium NEXT launches that started back in January 2017.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket liftoff has already been pushed back several times. Prior to this latest announcement, the rocket was supposed to launch on Jan. 8, but it was postponed again due to rainy weather.
If the rocket is successfully launched into space, the 10 satellites it is carrying will be added to Iridium's NEXT constellation, bringing up the total satellite number to 75.
Iridium Communications previously said that the NEXT satellites will replace the world's largest commercial network of low-Earth orbit satellites and would be hailed as one of the biggest "tech upgrades" in history.
On Monday, Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch posted on Twitter that he was confident that the Falcon 9 rocket would finally succeed in taking off this Friday.
"Briefing from SpaceX makes me increasingly encouraged about a Friday launch," he wrote. "Weather in the morning doesn't look too bad right now, and the rocket should be ready."
On Tuesday night, SpaceX said that the weather would be 60 percent favorable for launch.
The seventh and latest launch in the Iridium NEXT series happened on July 25, 2018.
Another rocket that hasn't taken off the ground yet and experienced multiple postponements like the Falcon 9 is the United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket. ULA revealed over the weekend that the launch has been pushed back again, and no new target dates have been decided.
The Delta IV Heavy rocket, as part of the mission dubbed NROL-71, will carry an unknown payload for the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit. The launch was first scheduled for Dec. 7 last year, but it has been postponed several times due to weather and technical issues.
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