On January 11, 2019 at 15:31 UTC the "Falcon-9” rocket-carrier was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 30th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited 10 “Iridium” communications satellites.

On January 10, 2019 at 17:11 UTC (on January 11 at 01:11 Beijing time), the Chang Zheng-3B (Long March-3B) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited the Chinese “Zhongxing-2D” (Chinasat-2D) communications satellite.