Still glowing with the success of its recent Falcon 9 rocket launch, commercial spaceflight company SpaceX has taken another giant leap by signing a major contract with satellite phone company Iridium.

The companies have signed a $492 million deal for SpaceX to launch the next generation of Iridium’s satellites (press release). The billion-dollar contract to build these satellites was recently awarded to Thales Alenia Space (see: Huge commercial spaceflight contract goes to Thales).

It’s not clear how many launches are involved in the contract as each Falcon 9 could carry more than one of the 72 satellites Iridium plans to put into orbit. Iridium says it is also planning on signing at least one additional launch contract.

It is clearly a big deal for SpaceX though. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, says it is “a very big endorsement” that shows that “Falcon 9 is the vehicle of choice both for the federal government and the commercial sector” (AP).

On NASA Watch, Keith Cowing writes, “So much for the SpaceX haters and doubters who are convinced that the company does not have a viable future independent of NASA.”

Image: Video via SpaceX