China achieved a significant milestone in its space program as it successfully landed the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket after a recent launch, reported by state media. This marked the first instance of China recovering the first stage of a rocket, a feat that SpaceX has been accomplishing for years to reduce launch costs through booster reuse.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, have been retrieving their rockets since 2015, resulting in substantial cost savings by recycling them instead of discarding them post-launch. SpaceX notably leads the way with over 600 landings of its first-stage Falcon boosters, including recent achievements such as launching a booster for the 36th time, setting a new record.
Moving forward, SpaceX is developing methods to capture returning rockets with large mechanical arms at the launch pad, especially for its advanced Starships undergoing test flights in Texas and soon expanding to Florida. Blue Origin, on the other hand, began by landing New Shepard boosters in Texas and progressed to recovering larger New Glenn boosters on a floating platform off the Florida coast.
With China now entering the realm of rocket recycling, Japan is poised to follow suit with a launch and landing attempt scheduled for the upcoming weekend. The Long March rocket took off from Hainan Island, a popular tourist destination in southern China, and features a reusable configuration capable of launching payloads of up to 16,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit (LEO), according to Xinhua.
Comparatively, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 boasts a maximum payload capacity of 22,800 kilograms, with Falcon rockets facilitating missions to the International Space Station. The Falcon Heavy variant can uplift payloads of up to 63,800 kilograms to LEO. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket can launch payloads of up to 45,000 kilograms.
In a related development, Rocket Lab USA, a smaller launch company, achieved a milestone in 2022 by successfully capturing its first stage rocket with a helicopter before depositing it in the ocean.
