Photos: SpaceX's Return-to-Flight Rocket Launch and Landing Success

SpaceX Back in Action

SpaceX

On Jan. 14, 2017, SpaceX launched 10 satellites for the company Iridium, and also landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a ship at sea. See images of the mission — SpaceX's first since a Sept. 1, 2016 launch pad explosion — here. Read the full story.

Picture-Perfect Landing

SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9 First Stage lands on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" after a successful launch taking 10 Iridium-NEXt satellites into orbit on Jan. 14, 2017.

Engines Firing

SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9 lifted off on Jan. 14, 2017 for the first time since the Sept. 1, 2016 explosion on the launch pad.

Falcon 9 Stage 1

SpaceX

A close-up of SpaceX's Falcon 9 in its first launch since the launch accident on Sept. 1, 2016. The rocket carried 10 Iridium NEXt satellites.

Falcon 9's Successful Launch

SpaceX

The Iridium-1 rocket, launched Jan. 14, 2017, carried 10 Iridium NEXt satellites into space.

A Controlled Descent

SpaceX

SpaceX's first successful launch since its Sept. 1, 2016 accident also ended with a successful landing on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" with a Falcon 9 rocket lifting off with 10 Iridium NEXt satellites aboard.

Almost Complete

SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9's First Stage nears landing on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" after its successfully release its Second Stage to orbit with 10 Iridium NEXt satellites aboard.

Falcon 9 Iridium NEXt Satellites

SpaceX

Another perspective of the Jan. 14, 2017 launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 carrying 10 Iridium NEXt satellites into orbit.

Falcon 9 Launches in Return-to-Flight Mission

SpaceX

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises into the sky above Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Jan. 14, 2017.

A Successful Launch

SpaceX

Engines fire, lifting SpaceX's Falcon 9 for its first launch since the Sept. 1, 2016 explosion on the launch pad. The Falcon 9's first stage successfully landed on a ship at sea.

Falcon 9 Returns to Flight

SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with 10 Iridium NEXt satellites on board on Jan. 14, 2017. The launch was the first for SpaceX since a Falcon 9 exploded on the launch pad on Sept. 1, 2016.

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.