猎鹰火箭回收成功

A milestone in the "private" space race. A U-S company, Space-X, has successfully launched a rocket-- and landed it vertically back on earth.

A moment of grace. And an outburst of jubilation. And with that, another step in the race to space.

Just 10 minutes earlier, the 23-storey high rocket, known as Falcon 9, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Inside the payload, 11 satellites that'll be thrust into space by a 9-engine booster, which - after separation - could then return to earth, in one piece, and be reused.

And that's exactly what happened.

The success belongs to SpaceX, a private U.S. firm headed by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla vehicles. After the landing, Musk tweeted: Welcome back, baby. And later told reporters: "This is a critical step along the way towards being able to establish a city on Mars."

Previous steps have been harder to watch. In June, a Falcon 9 rocket exploded just minutes after launch. Like this week's take-off, the event was streamed live on the web. The commentator, silent as the rocket broke to pieces.

But last month, a joyous moment for another private company. Blue Origin - headed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos - successfully launched and landed its New Shepard rocket in California.

Technically the first, it's a much smaller rocket, with less capability. And space watchers are quick to point out that the Falcon 9 went further and faster.