NASA has sent its first spacecraft into space since the end of the space shuttle program. Orion’s test flight proved a success, and NASA is a step closer to deep-space exploration.

Orion took off Friday morning at 7:05 a.m. without any delays or issues, unlike on Thursday, the spacecraft’s original launch date. According to Mashable, the module took off aboard a Delta IV heavy rocket.

The spacecraft traveled more than 60,000 miles and orbited Earth twice during its more than four hour trip. The rocket reached the speed of sound in less than 10 minutes and the orbital height of more than 3,600 miles.

NASA used Twitter to update the public on the spacecraft’s mission.

NASA also provided a live stream of the launch. Over 3 million people clogged the live stream Thursday waiting to see the launch, but it was scrubbed because of a number of issues.

#OrionLaunch was one of the top trending topics on Twitter Thursday and Friday.

On Twitter, NASA continued reporting and posted images taken by the module’s onboard cameras. The unmanned flight will test the module’s onboard computers and systems, as well as the module itself, as it crosses through the Van Allen radiation belts and re-enters the atmophere.

Orion successfully landed a little past 11:30 a.m., the time projected, off the Baja coast of California. U.S. Navy ships waited for it and fished it out of the water.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Lockheed Martin built Orion and spent around $370 million on Friday’s mission, including buying the Delta IV rocket. The company and NASA hope the mission will increase national interest in space exploration.

Watch the launch of Orion:

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