SpaceX has lift-off with first rocket launch since explosion

SpaceX’s rocket program has returned to flight with the first successful launch since a take-off accident in September that cost $200m. A Falcon 9 vehicle was successfully sent into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast. There were further triumphs as the first stage of the rocket was recovered through a managed vertical landing on a platform in the Pacific Ocean. The space vehicle has deployed the 10 satellites it carried into orbit for the Iridium communications company.

All satellites deployed

SpaceX boss Elon Musk