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.