---
title: "SpaceX Just Launched Their 14th Falcon 9 Rocket of 2017"
description: "This morning marked the 14th successful Falcon 9 launch of the year, and plans are already in place for another SpaceX rocket launch later this week."
date: "2017-10-09"
modified: "2017-10-09"
authors:
  - name: "Patrick Caughill"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/patrickcaughill"
url: "https://futurism.com/spacex-just-launched-their-14th-falcon-9-rocket-of-2017"
categories:
  - "Falcon"
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "falcon 9"
  - "iridium satellites"
  - "SpaceX"
---

# SpaceX Just Launched Their 14th Falcon 9 Rocket of 2017

![spacex falcon 9 iridium satellites](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/falcon9thaicomlaunchcenter.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://www.spacex.com/sites/spacex/files/styles/featured_news_widget_image/public/field/image/falcon9thaicomlaunchcenter.jpg?itok=i9WH-5uE" target="\_blank"\>SpaceX\</a\>\</em\>*

2017 has been a banner year for [SpaceX](<http://www.spacex.com/>), and this morning, the spaceflight company added to their success by launching their 14th Falcon 9 rocket of the year.

The SpaceX rocket launch took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a payload of 10 [Iridium](<https://www.iridium.com/>) satellites bound for orbit. The Falcon 9's first-stage rocket booster was recovered shortly after the launch, landing safely on SpaceX's *[Just Read the Instructions](<https://www.space.com/28445-spacex-elon-musk-drone-ships-names.html>)* drone ship in the Pacific.

This marked the third mission SpaceX has undertaken for the satellite company. More launches are on the way to complete [Iridium's NEXT](<https://www.iridium.com/network/iridiumnext>) satellite network, which will cover the entire surface of Earth using low-Earth orbit satellites.

![SpaceX rocket launch](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/screen-shot-2017-10-09-at-8-45-08-am.png>)
*Image Credit: SpaceX*

SpaceX plans to attempt another Falcon 9 launch on October 11. This SpaceX rocket launch, a joint venture with [EchoStar](<https://www.echostar.com/>) and [SES,](<https://www.ses.com/>) will take place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will utilize a refurbished Falcon 9 first stage.

If successful, the October 11 launch will be another example of SpaceX's ability to operate missions in quick succession, which will help to lower costs and continue to [boost accessibility to space](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-with-new-spacex-tech-rocket-costs-will-drop-by-a-factor-of-100>).

SpaceX has a total of eight more planned missions anticipated before the end of the year.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-caughill-74178a61>)