China Scores First Land Recovery of Reusable Rocket Booster in Space Milestone

By Staff, Agencies

China has achieved its first successful land recovery of a rocket’s first stage, marking a major step in Beijing’s drive to develop reusable launch technology and lower the cost of access to space.

The Zhuque-3 reusable rocket lifted off Wednesday before its first stage separated and returned to Earth for a successful land recovery, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The mission marked China’s second successful rocket-stage recovery overall and its first involving a booster landing on land, as well as the first successful deployment of landing legs during such an operation.

Xinhua described the achievement as a “major breakthrough” in China’s reusable rocket technology.

Previously, China demonstrated a sea-based recovery method on July 10, when the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket descended toward an offshore platform and was recovered using a net-capture system.

The latest achievement brings China closer to technologies already used by US aerospace companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, which began recovering rocket boosters in 2015. Reusable hardware can be refurbished and flown again rather than discarded after a single mission.

Meanwhile, reusable launch systems are increasingly viewed as key to reducing launch costs and enabling more frequent missions. China has invested heavily in the technology as it expands its civilian, commercial and scientific space programs and seeks a larger share of the global launch market.

Japan is also pursuing similar capabilities. On July 11, it conducted the first test flight of an experimental reusable rocket, which successfully lifted off and returned for a safe landing.

The advances reflect growing international competition over reusable launch technology, which could play a decisive role in shaping the cost, scale and capabilities of the future space industry.