Ares 1-X rocket blasts off

Nasa's Ares 1-X rocket sits on a launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first scheduled launch was delayed due to weather Photograph: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

The Ares 1-X rocket sits on a launch pad as dawn breaks at Kennedy Space Centre Photograph: Bill Ingalls/AFP/Getty Images

We have lift-off! The Ares 1-X rocket blasts off successfully from Kennedy Space Centre Photograph: John Raoux/AP

The Ares 1-X rocket blasted off at 11.30am local time Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Ares 1-X rocket is tentatively scheduled to be in service by 2015 but a review of Nasa's human spaceflight programme has cast doubt on its future Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The unmanned test flight of Ares 1-X gave Nasa the chance to monitor the new rocket's performance and hardware systems Photograph: Scott Audette/Reuters

Ares 1-X reached an altitude of about 28 miles in two minutes Photograph: Scott Audette/Reuters

Nasa Ares 1-X mission managers watch as the rocket lifts off Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The Ares 1-X is the largest rocket ever designed and built by Nasa Photograph: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

Both the lower and upper stages of the Ares 1-X rocket fell to the ocean and will be retrieved by ships Photograph: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images

The Ares 1-X rocket was estimated to have reached a speed of nearly five times the speed of sound during its flight Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images