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.

Image: The reusable booster first landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean in April 2016

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.