This photo obtained from SpaceX on Dec. 20, 2015 shows the Falcon 9 rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP)

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September. The two-stage rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 9:54am Saturday to place 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc.

SpaceX officials say they took corrective action on all possible causes of the Sept. 1 accident that destroyed a Falcon 9 and a satellite on a Florida launch pad. After a rather quick investigation into the September accident, in which SpaceX concluded that one of three composite overwrapped pressure vessels inside the rocket's second stage liquid oxygen tank failed, the company has modified the fueling process.
SpaceX returns to flight by placing 10 Iridium NEXT satellites in orbit and successfully recovering the first stage of its Falcon 9 launcher on a droneship.