China Achieves Seagoing Recovery of Long March Booster, Matching SpaceX’s Reusable Rocket Milestone

China’s state-owned space conglomerate executed a successful orbital launch of its Long March rocket and recovered the booster aboard a maritime vessel, marking the nation as the second globally to accomplish such a feat.

Friday’s flight demonstrated that the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) can now rival the capability that propelled SpaceX to industry leadership—reusing boosters to cut launch expenses. CASC indicated it plans to reuse the vehicle, which has a payload capacity comparable to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, before the end of the year.

Unlike SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which lands on an offshore drone ship using legs, China uses a net suspended from a large frame on a recovery vessel to capture the descending booster. Success depends on advanced guidance systems, precise sensors, and robust engines that can be restarted and endure the stresses of re‑entry.

SpaceX continues to set new launch records each year thanks to its reusable Falcon 9 boosters, which support the Starlink satellite network’s need for low‑cost, frequent access to space and provide services to NASA and the U.S. Space Force.

National security regulations prevent China from directly competing with SpaceX for commercial launch customers, effectively dividing the global market between the Western bloc and the Sino‑Russian bloc. Nonetheless, a reusable launch vehicle would allow China to field satellite communications and potential orbital data‑center services that could rival SpaceX’s constellation.

Such capability would intensify competition for Starlink in key regions including Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, while eroding U.S. military primacy in space. The timing of the Long March recovery coincides with recent investigative reporting on China‑Russia collaboration aimed at undermining Starlink’s successes in Ukraine.

Unless SpaceX can bring its larger Starship rocket to regular flight, China’s progress could shift the balance. Starship’s most recent launch yielded limited results, but another attempt is slated for this month, following a static‑fire test of the booster that proceeded without incident.

In the United States, additional firms are pursuing reusable launch technology. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin recovered and reused a booster in 2025, although a May launch‑pad explosion has halted further progress. Rocket Lab is advancing the Neutron vehicle, which will incorporate a reusable booster, and Stoke Space is developing a fully reusable system slated for testing this year.

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