SpaceX first vertically landed an orbital-class rocket booster in December 2015.
The milestone occurred on December 21, 2015, during the ORBCOMM-2 mission. A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 11 communications satellites toward low Earth orbit, then its first stage returned to Cape Canaveral and landed at Landing Zone 1.
This was significant because the booster had flown on an orbital launch, rather than merely making a brief suborbital test flight. Recovering the first stage offered the possibility of inspecting and reusing expensive rocket hardware, potentially lowering launch costs and increasing flight frequency.
The most common mix-up involves Blue Origin. Blue Origin’s New Shepard booster completed a vertical landing in November 2015, but New Shepard is a suborbital system. SpaceX’s achievement came later and involved the first successful landing of an orbital-class booster. SpaceX subsequently demonstrated drone-ship landings and booster reflight, turning recovery into a regular part of its launch operations.