China recovers an orbital rocket booster for the first time
China recovered the first stage of a carrier rocket during an orbital launch on Friday, its first retrieval of an orbital-class booster and a milestone in the country’s effort to close the gap with US rivals on reusable rockets. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said its Long March 10B lifted off from Hainan in southern China at 12:15 local time (04:15 GMT), and that about six minutes after stage separation the booster returned to a floating platform, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
The recovery method differs from SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which lands autonomously on a ground pad or drone ship. The Long March 10B instead uses “landing hooks” that catch a net on the floating platform. China said it plans to fly the recovered booster again on another launch before the end of the year.
Reusing first stages is the central cost lever in modern launch, and it is what has let SpaceX dominate global launch cadence. A working Chinese recovery system — even a different one — points to lower per-launch costs and a faster tempo for Beijing’s crewed lunar and satellite-constellation ambitions, though reflying the stage successfully is the harder test still ahead.