SpaceX has successfully launched and retrieved a recycled rocket - the first time in history the same booster has been used on two separate launches.
The used Falcon 9 rocket took off on a satellite delivery mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.
The booster's main section then separated from the rest of the rocket and flew itself back to a landing pad in the Atlantic, where it successfully touched down for its second return.
It was previously used on a mission in April last year and refurbished and tested on its return, still sporting its nine original engines.
Parts of a rocket are usually discarded during lift off.
"This is a huge day. My mind's blown, frankly," said SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
He described it as an "incredible milestone in the history of space" and predicted, "this is going to be a huge revolution in space flight".
The company has said it wants to recycle launch vehicles to reduce its costs eventually by up to a third.
In February, the firm announced plans to fly two private citizens around the Moon next year, in the first manned US mission since the 1970s.
The tourists, who have paid a "significant deposit" for the week-long trip, will travel using a spaceship being developed for NASA astronauts - as well as a heavy-lift rocket that is yet to be flown.
Mr Musk said he hopes the privately funded flight - the first ever to travel beyond the International Space Station - will happen in late 2018.
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