Blue Origin completed a major milestone Thursday with the successful launch of its New Glenn rocket and the company’s first-ever recovery of the rocket’s reusable first-stage booster.

According to BlueOrigin.com , the flight marked New Glenn’s second mission overall and its first carrying customer payloads — NASA’s twin Escapade satellites, which are headed toward Mars.

New Glenn lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:57 p.m. EST after several days of delays.

CNN reported that cloud cover earlier in the week pushed the launch past its original Sunday target, and the company had to coordinate with the Federal Aviation Administration after new daylight launch restrictions took effect during the government shutdown. A strong solar storm on Wednesday caused another post

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