The eighth and final Iridium NEXT launch – that was conducted on Friday – will bring to fruition a near 12-year campaign to replace and upgrade the Iridium communications network in Earth orbit.
Iridium NEXT-8 launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Liftoff took place during a single-second, instantaneous window of 07:31:33 PST (10:31:33 EST; 1531:33 UTC) on Friday, 11 January 2019.