Blue Origin launched its huge New Glenn rocket on Thursday with a pair of Nasa spacecraft destined for Mars.
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It was only the second flight of the rocket that Jeff Bezos’ company and Nasa are counting on to get people and supplies to the moon.
The 98-metre (321-foot) New Glenn blasted into the afternoon sky from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending Nasa’s twin Mars orbiters on a drawn-out journey to the red planet.
Lift-off was stalled four days by lousy local weather as well as solar storms strong enough to paint the skies with auroras as far south as Florida.
In a remarkable first, Blue Origin recovered the booster following its separation from the upper stage and the Mars orbiters, an essential step to recycle and slash costs similar to SpaceX. Company employees cheered wildly as the booster landed upright on its ocean platform 600km (375 miles) offshore.
New Glenn’s inaugural test flight in January delivered a prototype satellite to orbit, but failed to land the booster on a barge in the Atlantic.