China marks space breakthrough with 1st reusable rocket landing

China on Friday, in an unprecedented space launch, successfully recovered a used rocket, becoming the second nation after the US to achieve a major development in its space program, state media reported.

The indigenously built Long March-10B carrier rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern Hainan province, achieving its "first controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage" using a sea-based net-capture system, Xinhua News reported.

This was the second time since February that China attempted reusable rocket recovery. In its first attempt, it used a Long March-10A rocket, which completed a controlled descent but splashed down next to a recovery platform.

The breakthrough, which also sent a satellite into orbit, could potentially reduce space launch costs, as Long March-10B rockets can carry payloads of at least 16 metric tons.

The 63-meter (207-foot)-tall, 5-meter-wide rocket, developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, a Chinese state rocket developer, was launched at around 12.15 pm local time (0415GMT).

It took the reusable liquid-fueled rocket about six minutes to reach the separation point, and soon afterward, the rocket's first stage returned vertically to a sea-based platform.

"A single liquid oxygen-methane engine on the second stage then ignited, propelling the payload-carrying upper stage toward its target orbit. The stage later deployed a satellite into its preset orbit hundreds of kilometers above Earth," China Daily reported.

"This marks China's first successful implementation of controlled recovery of a launch vehicle's first stage, as well as the world's first net-based recovery of a launch vehicle," according to the Beijing-based Global Times newspaper.

China is the second country after the US to possess reliable reusable rocket technology, as the world's second-largest economy has steadily increased spending on space exploration.

Beijing spent more than $19 billion in 2024 on space, according to the Statista data website.

US billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX pioneered the landing of reusable rockets for space launches.

It was the first time in 2015 that SpaceX recovered its reusable Falcon 9 rocket, and Blue Origin achieved the same feat with its New Glenn rocket last November.