China Steals a Page From SpaceX

China just joined a very short list of countries that can recapture a falling rocket booster after launch—and it did it with a giant net at sea, reports the South China Morning Post. On Friday, the country's Long March 10B reusable rocket flew for the first time, then saw its first stage return from space, slow itself, and drop into a sea-based net-and-cable rig in a controlled recovery, according to state broadcaster CCTV. That makes China the second nation to pull off an orbital-class booster reuse test, and the first to do it with this kind of ocean-catch system. The AP notes that SpaceX in the US has been reusing rockets for several years as a means of driving down costs.

The 230-foot-tall rocket, launched from Wenchang in southern China, is designed to haul up to 16 tons to low Earth orbit, mainly for cargo. But this test was really about the future: proving out tech that will feed into the beefier Long March 10 variant intended to send Chinese astronauts and a lander toward the moon before 2030, putting Beijing on a parallel track with NASA's planned 2028 lunar return. China's space sector has recently suffered failed Falcon 9-style landing attempts, making Friday's successful net capture a key step in its push to cut launch costs and expand launch capacity. More Long March 10A, 10B, and private Zhuque-3 tests are expected later this year.