Falcon 9 was the first reusable orbital rocket to successfully land vertically in 2015. On December 21, 2015, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Full Thrust first stage returned to Cape Canaveral and landed upright at Landing Zone 1 after launching 11 Orbcomm-OG2 satellites into orbit.
The achievement was a major turning point in spaceflight because the booster had completed the demanding first part of an orbital launch before using engine burns, grid fins, and landing legs to guide itself back to Earth. Earlier Falcon 9 attempts in 2015 had tried to land on an ocean platform but did not succeed.
The rocket’s flight is sometimes listed as Falcon 9 Flight 20 or the Orbcomm-OG2 M2 mission. The launch occurred at 8:29 p.m. local time on December 21, or 01:29 UTC on December 22. The first stage was recovered intact, although that particular booster was not flown again.
New Shepard had already achieved vertical landings, but it is a suborbital vehicle. That distinction is why Falcon 9 is the canonical answer for the first successful landing after an orbital mission.