Private space company SpaceX has successfully delivered a large payload into orbit.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivered 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc, before coming back and touching down on a platform in the Pacific Ocean.

Iridium is sending up dozens of satellites in a one-for-one replacement program for its existing global satellite constellation, the largest commercial satellite constellation in space.

The process, known as a “slot swap”, has never been attempted on this scale before, and due to its size and complexity, the Iridium NEXT project is considered one of the largest “tech refreshes” in history.

For SpaceX, it is the first real win since all flight plans were grounded after last year’s explosion during fuelling in Florida.

The explosion destroyed a $62 million SpaceX booster and a $200 million Israeli communications satellite, while also knocking back the company's aggressive agenda.

However, SpaceX says it still intends to start taking US astronauts into space next year, and it lining up its first voyage to Mars as well.

The flight over the weekend will help clear a backlog of over 70 missions, worth more than $10 billion, which are awaiting flights on SpaceX Falcon rockets.

The Iridium launch is the first in a seven-flight contract worth $468.1 million, but these are just a few of the 27 rockets SpaceX plans to launch in 2017, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal.

The company also says 2017 will see the first launch of a heavy-lift booster, the first flight using a reused rocket, and repairs on the Florida launch pad damaged last year.

More information is available here.