Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has become the first rocket-maker to launch a liquid-fueled booster into space and bring it to a soft landing on Earth, according to BBC News.
The landing spot was in the Atlantic Ocean, but still the achievement is groundbreaking and will be talked about years from now.
The test took place as part of the company's third space-station resupply mission, which launched April 18 from the US Air Force's Cape Canaveral station.
SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule reached the International Space Station on April 20.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was the first to announce the test was successful, doing so on Twitter so that his thousands of followers could hear the news.
During a press conference on April 25, Musk was able to describe the touchdown, based on readings from more than one sensor that the booster radioed back through its descent and after touchdown, according to BBC News.
Musk confirmed that the data showed a "soft landing," deployment of all legs, it came down vertically, with its nine main engine and was in a safe state once reaching the water.
With seas running around 15 to 20 feet, the booster broke up almost immediately after landing. The SpaceX team had to wait two days before the boats that the company had hired could reach the site due to rough water.
Only debris left once reaching the site, including four legs that extend from the booster's body for landing, and a large carbon-fiber structure that joins the first and second stages of the Falcon 9 rocket, according to The Christian Science Monitor.
"The booster stage landed within a few miles of its targeted landing area. With successive launches, the team intends to shrink that to a one-mile radius - a goal necessary for initial landings back at Cape Canaveral. It's a feat that the company could attempt by the end of this year, if all goes well in the meantime," said Musk.
The booster stage is 70 percent of a rocket's cost, while fuel is 0.3 percent of the cost. If the booster is able to return to the launch site each time, it could technically be prepared for another launch later on the same day, according to Musk.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?