China successfully tested a sea-based recovery system to capture a rocket booster on Friday, July 10, 2026 [1].
The achievement marks a critical step in China's effort to develop reusable-rocket technology. By recovering orbital-class boosters, the country aims to reduce the cost of space flight and close the technological gap with the U.S. and private entities like SpaceX [2, 5].
The test took place at sea off the coast of Hainan [3]. State media and space authorities said the system captured the first stage of a Long March 10B rocket [1, 4]. The recovery process utilized a specialized ship equipped with a floating platform and a net-and-cable system to snag the booster as it descended [3, 4].
With this successful capture, China becomes the second country to recover an orbital-class rocket booster [6]. While the U.S. has utilized vertical landing legs for booster recovery, the Chinese approach in this test relied on a mechanical capture method via a maritime platform [3, 4].
This development follows a period of intense investment in the Long March 10B program. The ability to reuse first-stage boosters is essential for sustainable lunar missions and frequent satellite deployments, tasks that previously required the construction of entirely new rockets for every launch [2, 5].
State media reports said the system functioned as intended during the July 10 event [1]. The operation demonstrates that the floating platform and netting mechanism can withstand the forces of a returning orbital booster [3, 4].
“China becomes the second country to recover an orbital-class rocket booster”
The successful recovery of the Long March 10B booster signals a shift in China's space strategy toward economic sustainability. By moving away from expendable rockets, China can increase the cadence of its launches and lower the financial barrier to deep-space exploration. The use of a net-and-cable system provides a distinct engineering alternative to the propulsive landing method used by SpaceX, suggesting a diversified approach to the global race for reusable space infrastructure.
