The 10 satellites were delivered two-at-a-time to Vandenberg from their Orbital ATK factory in Gilbert, Arizona, in August for a planned launch in mid-September. Preparations were halted after the launch pad accident at Cape Canaveral.
Work has resumed inside SpaceX’s clean room at Vandenberg, with the final steps before launch including the attachment of all 10 spacecraft — designed by Thales Alenia Space and built in partnership with Orbital ATK — to a SpaceX-provided dispenser.
The deployment mechanism has two tiers, each holding five of the satellites. Once technicians connect the craft to the dispenser, they will load hydrazine fuel into each satellite. The spacecraft will each weigh nearly 1,900 pounds — about 860 kilograms — with a full tank of propellant.
The Falcon 9 rocket will place the first 10 next-generation communications satellites into a polar orbit around 388 miles (625 kilometers) above Earth. From there, the satellites will use on-board thrusters to maneuver into their final positions in the Iridium constellation.