{"id":926141,"date":"2026-07-10T19:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/926141\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:27:14","slug":"watch-china-land-a-reusable-rocket-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/926141\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch China Land a Reusable Rocket for the First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

SpaceX is flying high off the back of a record-breaking IPO<\/a>, but China looks determined to bring Elon Musk back down to Earth.<\/p>\n

China successfully landed the booster stage of its Long March-10B reusable rocket on Friday, the first time it has launched and partially returned a reusable orbital rocket safely to Earth.<\/p>\n

It means that China’s Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, which built the rocket, joins Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin<\/a> as the only organizations to have successfully landed a rocket booster.<\/p>\n

Mao Ning, the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in an X post that it is a “major leap toward reusable launch capabilities.” <\/p>\n

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A historic day in China\u2019s space program!<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Long March-10B has successfully completed its maiden flight\u2014and recovered its first stage via a sea-based net. This marks the country\u2019s first-ever controlled rocket recovery. A major leap toward reusable launch capabilities.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/FWuQXLltaD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mao Ning \u6bdb\u5b81 (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Local media reported<\/a> that the Long March rocket’s first stage touched down on a barge around six minutes after launch and was captured by a large net \u2014 reportedly the world’s first ever “net-based recovery” of a rocket.<\/p>\n

Landing a first-stage booster, rather than letting it burn up on reentry, is a key milestone in building reusable rockets, which significantly lowers launch costs. SpaceX landed its first booster in 2015<\/a> and has since launched and successfully recovered its Falcon 9 rocket hundreds of times.<\/p>\n

In 2024, SpaceX wowed the world<\/a> by catching the nearly 400-foot-tall superheavy booster \u2014 which is used to propel its next-generation Starship rocket into orbit \u2014 with the chopstick-like arms of its “Mechazilla” launch tower.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin scored its first booster landing<\/a> last November, with the first stage of its towering New Glenn rocket successfully landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Bezos’ rocket company has suffered setbacks since then, with New Glenn exploding on the launchpad<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n

Landing a booster is a significant step toward China’s ambition of catching up with SpaceX, which launches far more material into orbit than any other country or company.<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

China’s reusable Long March rocket can’t carry as much into orbit as SpaceX’s Falcon 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ding Yi\/VCG via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Asian superpower is also attempting to build a rival to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, with state-backed company SpaceSail<\/a> launching around 200 satellites into orbit since 2024.<\/p>\n

That’s well behind Starlink, which has an estimated 10,000 satellites in low-earth orbit. China’s Long March rocket also lags behind SpaceX’s Falcon 9, with a max payload capacity of 16 tons compared to the Falcon’s 25 tons and Starship’s planned 100+ tons.<\/p>\n

In a post on X<\/a> in October, however, Musk said that China’s reusable rockets were catching up with SpaceX’s workhorse rocket \u2014 even if they were still some way behind the cutting edge.<\/p>\n

“They have added aspects of Starship, such as use of stainless steel and methalox, to a Falcon 9 architecture, which would enable it to beat Falcon 9,” he wrote.<\/p>\n

“But Starship [is] in another league,” Musk added.<\/p>\n