Gorgeous photos from SpaceX's historic rocket launch and landing

Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched and landed an orbital rocket Monday evening, the first time an aerospace company has achieved this feat.

"Orbital rockets are the most powerful type of rocket there is because they generate enough speed and power to send payloads into orbit around Earth, hence 'orbital,'" Business Insider's Jessica Orwig wrote. "Orbital rockets are key to SpaceX's eventual goal of transporting people to far-away destinations like Mars and then bringing them back home."

SpaceX's flight could have major implications for the cost of spaceflight, as reusable spacecrafts could save companies a massive amount of money. SpaceX's next project looks to be refueling the rocket used on Monday and sending it back into space.

Here's how it all went down: