Timeline milestone
Falcon 9 lands an orbital-class first stage
From SpaceX and the New Commercial Space Race: From Falcon 1 to Starship
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Reusability
Falcon 9 lands an orbital-class first stage
After delivering 11 satellites, the first stage returned to Cape Canaveral and landed upright.
The landing did not by itself prove economic reuse, but it solved a central guidance and propulsion challenge. Earlier vehicles had achieved forms of vertical landing, while SpaceX’s distinction was recovering the first stage of an orbital-class mission.Sources & references 1 source
