SpaceX has landed its rocket vertically back on Earth after sending satellites into orbit - marking a major step forward in developing cheaper, more accessible space travel.
Three previous attempts to land on a platform at sea had failed, with the June flight exploding on its way to re-supply the International Space Station.
SpaceX workers cheered, jumped in the air and hugged each other as the 15-storey Falcon 9 rocket touched down at Florida's Cape Canaveral.
The first-stage booster landed on a giant X after successfully sending 11 satellites into orbit for US telecoms company OrbComm.
The landing - 10 minutes after lift-off - was six miles away on a reinforced concrete surface.
"The Falcon has landed," SpaceX TV commentators announced.
"This has been a wildly successful return to flight for SpaceX," said one commentator. "We made history today."
SpaceX is run by Elon Musk - the billionaire founder of Tesla electric cars.
He hopes to dramatically reduce launch costs by reusing rockets, something that could revolutionise space travel, open it up to more people and make its pioneers a lot of money.
Currently, rocket boosters are jettisoned after a couple of minutes and land in the sea where they are recovered and eventually refurbished - a costly and time-consuming process.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, successfully landed a suborbital rocket last month in Texas.
The rival billionaire cheekily tweeted: "Congrats @SpaceX on landing Falcon's suborbital booster stage. Welcome to the club!"
However, Musk's Space X booster was much larger, faster and more powerful to allow it to enter orbit.
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