SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully landed vertically for the first time on Monday. It launched 11 ORBCOMM satellites before landing in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
ORBCOMM, the telecommunication company whose satellites the Falcon 9 was carrying as payload, confirmed the news.
The company has been trying to land rockets vertically and unharmed to make them reusable like air planes, reducing cost in millions. Currently, rockets worth millions get lost in space after the payload is launched.
The static fire test scheduled for last week was eventually cancelled, delaying the first launch -- set for 19 December.
In 2014, the Falcon 9 had exploded two minutes after launch, destroying millions of dollars worth cargo and equipment because of a defect in the strut.
The Falcon 9 v1.2 is 229.6 feet tall and has the ability to produce 1.7 million pounds of thrust. It is also able to carry more fuel, and the rocket booster has been upgraded. In Monday's flight, before turning back, the rocket had achieved a height of 125 miles.
"I still can't quite believe it...I think this is a revolutionary moment. No one has ever brought an orbital class booster back intact," The Telegraph quoted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Amazon and Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos welcomed Musk. Bezos' New Shepard rocket completed a successful landing after a suborbital flight last month.
However, the Internet was not kind to Bezos for his snarky welcome message.
While some called out Bezos for trying to compare Falcon 9 with the New Shepard, which is way shorter, others reminded him that landing the Falcon 9 was tougher than the Blue Origin rocket.
NASA also took to Twitter to congratulate the company.
SpaceX and Blue Origin have been racing each other in the aerospace business, creating rockets that would facilitate commercial space travel in the near future. Currently, SpaceX holds a deal with NASA to transport astronauts from the International Space Station to Earth and back.
