China’s Long March 10B Marks First Successful Reusable Rocket Landing

Sun Sep 06 2026 04:15:01 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

China announced a historic first reusable rocket landing, signalling a potential challenge to U.S. leaders in space launch economics.

China’s Long March 10B booster successfully returned to Earth and landed on a floating platform, becoming the country’s first reusable rocket. The landing demonstrates China’s growing capability to recover booster stages, a key technology that reduces launch costs. This breakthrough could narrow the gap between Chinese and American launch companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin that have long dominated reusable rocket milestones. Shortly after the announcement, shares in major Chinese space firms jumped, reflecting investor optimism about the sector.

Long March 10B booster landing on floating platform

China has successfully landed a reusable rocket for the first time, a milestone that marks a major breakthrough for the country’s space programme.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said the Long March 10B lifted off from Hainan in southern China at 12:15 local time (04:15 GMT) on Friday.

Just six minutes after separating from the upper stage, the booster returned to Earth vertically and was recovered on a floating platform, showcasing a novel approach that relies on net‑catch hooks rather than autonomous landings.

While rockets are typically expendable, reusing boosters cuts launch costs dramatically and could allow China to rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Blue Origin’s New Glenn, both of which have repeatedly landed reusable stages.

The Long March 10B can carry at least 16 metric tons to low‑Earth orbit and has been compared to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, but it relies on a sea‑based recovery system instead of ground pads or drone ships.

Following the news, shares in Chinese space companies such as China Spacesat and China Satellite Communications rose by 10%, hitting the daily trading limit in the country’s financial market.