SpaceX already has competition: China recovers for the first time the first stage of a rocket after takeoff

The rocket took off from the commercial launch center on the island of Hainan, in southern China, after which its first stage returned vertically and was recovered on a platform located in the sea, the People’s Daily reported.

According to the pro-government newspaper Global Times, the operation represents the first controlled recovery of the first stage of a launcher successfully carried out by China and also the first in the world based on a network system.

The maneuver represents progress in Chinese plans to develop reusable rockets, a technology considered key to reducing costs, increasing the frequency of launches and sustaining future satellite constellations and more complex missions.

The Chinese aerospace sector, both state and commercial, has intensified tests of partial reuse of launchers in recent years, although the process has been marked by several incomplete tests.

Last December, the Zhuque-3 Yao-1 reusable rocket, developed by the private company LandSpace, managed to reach orbit on its first flight, but it could not recover its first stage due to a combustion anomaly during the landing maneuver.

That same month, China carried out the first test flight of the Long March-12A, which state media described as “basically successful” after the second stage reached the planned orbit, although the first stage of the launcher was also not recovered.

In April, the commercial rocket Tianlong-3, from the company Space Pioneer, did not complete its debut after registering an anomaly in flight shortly after takeoff from Jiuquan, in the northwest of the country.

This Friday’s recovery comes at a time of expansion in the Chinese space sector, with an increase in launchesthe development of new families of rockets and greater competition between private companies and state programs.

China has strengthened its aerospace program in recent years with projects such as the Tiangong station, the Chang’e lunar program, the Tianwen-1 Martian mission and preparations for a future manned moon landing before 2030.