Chinese Start-Up Lands Reusable Rocket for the First Time

For the first time, a Chinese aerospace company landed the bottom part of a rocket that went to space, state media reported on Wednesday, marking an advance for the country in its ability to partly reuse rockets for future missions.

The success follows the recovery of a different rocket’s booster stage, or first stage, which returned upright to a platform at sea last month. That vehicle was operated by a state-owned corporation, while Tuesday’s breakthrough was achieved by a private start-up, LandSpace.

Reusing rocket boosters would allow Chinese satellite makers to reduce the cost of getting to orbit, and better compete in the global space market.

“China is already prepped and primed to scale different space capabilities, like satellite communications, but they just needed reusable launch to really unlock the economics of that,” Kathleen Curlee, a senior research analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/world/asia/china-rocket-first-stage-recovery-land.html