McDonnell Douglas DC-X

The DC-X, short for Delta Clipper Experimental, was an uncrewed prototype of a reusable single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle built by McDonnell Douglas with the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization of the United States Department of Defense from 1991 to 1993. It first flew for 59 seconds on 18 August 1993, in what was claimed to be the first vertical landing of a rocket on Earth. Testing continued under NASA funding in 1994 and 1995, and in 1996 the technology passed to NASA, which built the improved DC-XA. After a DC-XA flight ended in a fire in 1996 the project was canceled, though it inspired later reusable launchers such as New Shepard and Falcon 9.