SpaceX Launches Cluster of Commercial Satellites

The SpaceX company has launched a rocket packed with communication satellites.

The Falcon rocket blasted off Monday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On board were six advanced satellites for the New Jersey-based Orbcomm. Eleven more of these satellites are to be launched in the coming year.

The 374-pound satellites will offer two-way data links to help customers track, monitor and control transportation and logistics assets, heavy equipment, oil and gas infrastructure, ships and buoys, and government-owned equipment.

The launch had been delayed repeatedly since May for technical and other reasons.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — or SpaceX — is also working to ferry space station cargo for NASA. The company is based in Hawthorne, California.