SpaceX has launched a top-secret spy satellite for the US government and then successfully landed the booster for recycling.

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from its Nasa-leased pad at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida at 7:15 am.

It was SpaceX’s first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

No details were divulged about the newly launched NRO satellite. Instead, SpaceX focused its webcast on the successful touchdown of the first-stage booster.

The leftover booster – its job done – landed at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station several minutes after lift-off.

Sonic booms rattled the area, serving as a Monday morning wake-up call. Across the country, cheers erupted at SpaceX Mission Control at company headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

SpaceX strives to return most of its boosters for reuse. The company’s first recycled rocket flew last month.