China recovers reusable rocket booster for first time in milestone launch

Net-catch recovery shows China is catching up quickly, experts say

China launched and partially recovered a rocket Friday in a milestone for Beijing’s space program as it competes with the United States and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Long March-10B, on its maiden flight, lifted off around noon from southern Hainan province and entered orbit. Minutes later, a giant net caught the rocket’s booster as it descended, state broadcaster CCTV footage showed. It was the first time China has successfully demonstrated rocket-recovery technology.

SpaceX first recovered a section of its Falcon 9 rocket in 2015, establishing a cost advantage for the U.S. space program by enabling the reuse of expensive hardware between launches. China has until now relied on disposable rockets.

The Long March-10B stands roughly 200 feet tall and carries a payload of more than 16 metric tons, state media reported. The recovery net was mounted on top of a seaborne platform and represented the first net-based rocket launch recovery, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the state-owned firm that developed the vehicle. The company said it expected to reuse the recovered booster by the end of the year.

Two previous Chinese attempts to recover rockets in December failed.

Sam Bresnick, a research fellow who studies China at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said it would be a “big deal” if China’s space program can regularly recover and reuse parts of its rockets.

“It pretty radically decreases the cost of building out these giant satellite constellations that China has made very clear that it wants to build out,” Bresnick said. He added that Beijing was investing in space technology for both its economic and military applications.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. said the successful launch would “lay a solid foundation for accelerating the improvement of the country’s space access capabilities.”

Beijing has pursued a yearslong drive to transform itself into a space power, sending more satellites into orbit and encouraging its commercial space sector to challenge SpaceX. China also aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.

Experts said that while China still lags behind the U.S. in space capabilities, it is catching up quickly, as shown by Friday’s launch.