SpaceX Targets Early January for Return-to-Flight Rocket Launch

SpaceX is now eyeing early January for its next mission, the first one the company will have launched since a Sept. 1 explosion grounded its fleet of Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk had previously said the company was targeting mid-December for the return-to-flight mission, which will loft 10 spacecraft for the satellite-communications company Iridium. But SpaceX needs a bit more time to get everything ready to go, company representatives wrote in an update today (Dec. 7).