Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research sub-orbital spaceflights and eventually intended to support robotic orbital spaceflight launches.
A XA0.1E "Xoie" rocket on the competition-winning landing in the Lunar Lander Challenge at Mojave on 30 October 2009.
A XA0.1B "Xombie" lander tethered flight test on 11 September 2009.
Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. The most successful VTVL vehicle was the Apollo Lunar Module which delivered the first humans to the Moon. Building on the decades of development, SpaceX utilised the VTVL concept for its flagship Falcon 9 first stage, which has delivered over two hundred successful powered landings so far.
Apollo 16 LM Orion on the lunar surface, 1972
DC-XA landing in 1996
A Falcon 9 first stage performing a vertical landing, 2016
A Falcon 9 first stage landing on 21 December 2015 after boosting commercial satellites to low Earth orbit