China acquires the Long March-10B booster, a reusable rocket launcher

China flew away and recovered a new one Long March rocket booster, the world’s first and an important step toward cheap, reusable spaceflight.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Friday that the Long March-10B rocket took off from Hainan Province and put whatever it was carrying – the announcement did not say – into orbit on its first flight. After the upper part of the rocket continued to look spacethe booster – a powerful first stage that lifts heavy objects when launched – turned around and flew back to Earth.

Instead of crashing into the ocean, the booster guided itself to a special ship in the ocean, where a large net caught it and left it hanging in place. Engineers described the system as the world’s first cross-shaped net, to “catch” rockets, attached to hooks on the booster to help it catch. You can watch the booster catch video below.

Reusing boosters can greatly reduce launch costs, allow rockets to fly more often, and give countries an edge in advancement. the space race. United States – mainly through companies like SpaceX – has pushed recycling for years, and China is now moving to match that capability. For national space programs and private companies, flying the same hardware over and over again transforms access to space from a rare, expensive event to something closer to regular transportation.

SpaceX first proved that this kind of reusability was possible on Dec. 2015, where some of it Falcon 9 rocket launched the satellites and guided the first stage booster back to the landing site. The booster went back into space, fired its engines to slow down, and touched down straight up rather than falling into the ocean.

Since then, SpaceX has proven it can handle the Starship booster with giant mechanical armscalled “sticks,” on the launch pad. Blue Origin is also successful arrived at the New Glenn booster on board about eight months ago — before the rocket blasted off in Maywhich caused a disastrous setback for the company.

According to Xinhua, the Long March-10B booster went through a six-minute “return trip” after separating from the upper stage. It coasted, adjusted its position, fired its engines to slow down, and used the wind itself to brake before reaching the ship.

Waiting below was a large sea-based platform to be delivered in late 2025, Xinhua said. The vessel measures approximately 470 feet long and 160 feet wide. A tall tower reinforces the net system, while the sensors like it LIDAR — type of laser-based rangefinder — track the falling booster’s path and angle in real time.

Rather than having landing legs, China’s new system caused the booster to fly straight into a large net. Special cables then absorbed the booster’s power and left it hanging motionless in mid-air, in a fully automatic system, according to officials cited by Xinhua.

Engineers say this grip allows them to simplify the booster itself. By skipping heavy landing gear and other equipment, they can lighten the rocket and free up more space to carry satellites, the sources said.

The Long March-10B, a liquid-fueled rocket, is more than 200 meters long and about 16.5 meters wide, according to Xinhua. It produces approximately 1,000,000 US tons of thrust at altitude and weighs 840 tons when fully fueled. If reused, it can carry up to 18 tonnes of cargo into low-Earth orbit – the area of ​​space around the planet where most communications and Earth-observing satellites fly.

Chinese officials say the rocket is targeting a growing commercial launch market, where companies want to deploy satellite networks quickly and at low cost. Long March-10B can handle tasks such as creating satellite internet constellations.

Chen Muye, from the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said the first flight demonstrates the success of low-cost, powerful reusable rockets in China and is aimed at improving the country’s commercial competitiveness. He added that this technology will also support China’s future rocket program.