Iridium is SpaceX's largest commercial customer, and the launch from Vandenberg was the second Iridium mission for the commercial space company is a part of a contract to deliver 75 Iridium satellites by mid-2018.

However, that timetable is two years behind what SpaceX agreed upon with Iridium in 2010.
"The delays in satellite and rocket readiness for the first launch were frustrating, but fortunately, our current network continued to perform well so we were able to weather the delay," Desch told CNBC.

With a budget of $3 billion dollars, Desch said the program did not incur any additional costs, and the network could still be complete in mid-2018, thanks in part to a tighter-than-expected launch schedule. Iridium's NEXT satellite network will then be able to offer services such as higher broadband communications speeds and global airplane tracking.
SpaceX and Iridium began working over 10 years, and it feels "like we've grown up together," Desch said, as he hailed Musk as "a visionary."

About 20 years ago, Iridium used to launch satellites with SpaceX competitor United Launch Alliance, as well as aboard Russian and Chinese-manufactured rockets. Nowadays, Desch said the current launch industry is very different, and Iridium only works with SpaceX.

"We tried to work with other launch vehicle companies but all were at least twice the cost of SpaceX and unaffordable based on the scope of the network we needed to launch," Desch said, adding that he remains focused on the future.

"I'll be on them Monday to make sure our next six launches over the next 12 months are equally successful. SpaceX isn't 'done' yet," Desch added.
--The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Elon Musk's rocket company made NASA history Friday, as SpaceX became the first company to launch a resupply mission to the International Space Station on a reused rocket.

The mission, known as Commercial Resupply Services 13 (CRS-13), launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket previously flown for CRS-11 in June this year.

It is the first time NASA has approved such a mission and the fourth time SpaceX has launched with what it says is a "flight proven" booster. Three commercial missions earlier this year, including the record turnaround from BulgariaSat-1 in June, have reused Falcon 9 rockets.

The Falcon 9's first stage successfully separated from the Dragon capsule which was also previously flown, on a mission in April 2015. A few minutes later, the booster touched down at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral, gently settling onto the concrete pad.

The mission brings about 2½ tons of crew supplies and scientific payloads to the space station. Dragon will travel for two days before it attaches to the orbiting station, returning about one month later to Earth.

NASA officials announced the CRS-13 would be on a previously flown booster, saying in a press conference before the launch that the administration is "very comfortable that the risk posture on this vehicle is not significantly greater than a new booster."

This was the only launch where NASA has approved the use of a previously launched rocket. SpaceX demonstrated thorough readiness for the rocket after NASA participated "in a broad range" of date assessments and inspections of the Falcon 9.

The launch had been delayed multiple times from its original Dec. 8 target, with today marking the last backup opportunity until Dec. 25.

The 45th Space Wing of the U.S. Air Force said in a tweet before the launch that this was the 19th launch from Cape Canaveral's Eastern Range in 2017. This was SpaceX's 17th launch this year, with one more expected on Dec. 22 to launch more Iridium satellites.

Musk's company is at the forefront of a global shift in rocket launches, with this year the first in history that commercial launches will outpace government-sponsored ones.

While SpaceX is the first private company to achieve this milestone, the U.S. government formerly launched astronauts and supplies aboard its space shuttles. The shuttle was a composite of an orbiter, two recoverable solid rocket boosters and an iconic orange external fuel tank. The shuttle program flew 135 missions and ran for nearly 40 years until 2011, when it was retired.

SpaceX achieved history on Sunday with a rocket launch an act that the CEO of Iridium Communications told CNBC was "critical" to his company's commercial success.

The Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX carried 10 communications satellites into orbit from California, merely two days after the company successfully launched a satellite from Florida. The rocket departed from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Los Angeles, carrying a group of new satellites from Iridium.

"SpaceX has been a disruptor of the long-time status quo of the commercial space industry," Iridium chief Matt Desch said. "They are redefining the 'cost to get to space,' and all the other launch providers have had to take note and adjust their plans."