LandSpace said it plans another recovery test for Zhuque-3 in the second quarter of 2026. Based on the results of that test, the company aims to attempt the first recovery-and-reflight mission in the fourth quarter of 2026. If the first stage is recovered successfully, it will be refurbished and used on a subsequent Zhuque-3 launch, achieving reuse.

On Friday, July 10, 2026, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) successfully executed its first-ever controlled recovery of an orbital-class rocket booster.[1] The maiden flight of the Long March 10B carrier rocket lifted off from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, successfully deploying its satellite payload into the targeted orbit before its first stage performed a vertical return over the South China Sea.[1] CASC engineers are currently transitioning the recovered first stage to post-flight processing facilities, and the state enterprise plans to fully inspect, refurbish, and re-fly this identical booster stage before the end of the year.[1]

The company says its second flight is targeted for Q2 2026, and if that mission succeeds, the first reflights of recovered first stages are desired within Q4 2026. The article quotes LandSpace as saying it is optimizing the recovery workflow and is confident in achieving first-stage recovery on the next flight.

Galactic Energy’s Pallas-1 completed an offshore trial run of its first-stage propulsion system in Shandong, which the company says is a major step toward its maiden launch. The rocket is described as one of China’s first reusable liquid launch vehicles for orbital-class missions.

Landspace targets a second Zhuque-3 orbital launch and recovery attempt in Q2 2026 after the first flight failed to complete first-stage landing. The article says the company intends to learn from that attempt before moving toward reuse.

China's sprawling state-owned rocket developer, maker of the country's Long March rocket family, announced it recovered a reusable orbital-class booster for the first time Friday in the South China Sea. About 10 minutes later, the Long March 10B booster descended from space and guided itself into a four-legged frame affixed to an offshore vessel, where tensioned cables in a grid pattern captured the rocket as it shut down its landing engines. Chinese officials hailed the flight as a "complete success."

China just notched a huge spaceflight milestone. The nation has recovered a rocket during an orbital launch for the first time ever, pulling off the feat during the Long March 10B's maiden liftoff on Friday (July 10).[2] The rocket's first stage nestled softly into a net-like structure carried by a ship at sea, and CASC officials stated that "this mission marks my country's first successful controlled recovery of a launch vehicle" and "will lay a solid foundation for accelerating the improvement of my country's space access capabilities."[2] China plans to refly the first stage by the end of the year, they added.[2]

China's Landspace successfully launched its reusable Zhuque-3 rocket to orbit, but the booster landing attempt failed. The story describes this as a test of first-stage vertical recovery technology, not yet a routine commercial recovery-and-reflight operation.

Galactic Energy shared that Pallas-1 is at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and that the launch pad to support it is complete. The post says the vehicle is now at the launch site ahead of its debut flight, but it does not specify a date for the first launch or any recovery-and-reflight timeline.

Recovery of the first stage of the rocket using legs will take place in 2025. The article says Galactic Energy expected the first Pallas-1 flight in Q3 2024 and later a first-stage recovery attempt in 2025.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced that the Long March 10B rocket launched from Hainan at 12:15 local time (04:15 GMT) on Friday. Approximately six minutes after detaching from the rocket's upper stage, the booster made a vertical return to Earth and was retrieved on a floating platform using a net system. State media described this as China’s first successful landing of a reusable rocket and noted an earlier controlled descent test in February with a Long March 10A prototype.

The maiden flight of Zhuque-3 placed the payload into orbit, but the first stage booster experienced an anomaly during the final recovery phase and crashed near the planned landing site. This shows orbital launch capability with a failed recovery attempt.

Video released by Chinese state media shows a state-owned aerospace company launching a rocket and recovering part of it on Friday.[7] The footage, shared by The New York Times, depicts the rocket’s booster returning and being caught by a sea-based system, highlighting China’s entry into reusable rocket technology during an orbital launch.[7]

🇨🇳 China has recovered its first orbital rocket booster, joining an elite club of just two nations to achieve reusable orbital booster recovery.[3] About 6 minutes after lift-off, the first stage separated from the second stage, then returned to Earth in a controlled descent and was successfully caught on a sea-based platform using a net capture system.[3] China says it will continue to improve the rocket's performance and accelerate its reusable launch program, with the first reflight of a recovered booster targeted by the end of this year.[3]

A company representative said Pallas-1 would be ready to fly in November 2023, but when asked whether the first-stage section would be retrieved during the maiden flight, the representative said that information was not suitable for release at the moment. The report says the rocket would be the first reusable rocket developed in China to reach orbit if the launch happened as planned.

Early Friday, over the South China Sea, the first stage of a Long March 10B rocket fell back through the sky, deployed four hooks, and was caught in a net on a sea platform. CASC indicated in its post‑flight statement that the team would work to optimize rocket performance and advance reusable rocket technology, and that it plans to refly the recovered first stage before the end of the year—an aggressive turnaround that, if achieved, would rival Falcon 9’s early operational cadence. CASC has not yet demonstrated a reflight.

Galactic Energy was established in 2018 and was working toward a test launch of its Pallas 1 rocket. The article explains that Pallas 1 is designed to be reusable and would require recovering the first stage, restarting the engines, and landing propulsively.

China has successfully recovered the first stage of its Long March-10B carrier rocket, marking a major step toward reusable launch technology. The booster was captured using a sea-based cable-and-net recovery system after the rocket's maiden flight, during which the upper stage placed a payload into orbit. Commentators noted that reusability could reduce launch costs, increase launch frequency and create less rocket debris, making access to space more efficient and sustainable.

China has successfully completed the first flight of Long March 10B and recovered its first stage. Around six minutes after liftoff, the booster returned to the Linghangzhe offshore platform, where it was captured using an innovative net-based recovery system. Posts celebrating the flight state that China becomes the second country, after the United States, to successfully recover an orbital-class booster, and that China Rocket Co. now joins SpaceX and Blue Origin as one of the few companies to achieve this.

On 10 July, China became the second nation to successfully recover a booster after orbital flight, when a Long March 10B's first stage landed on a net-like structure on a ship at sea during its maiden flight.[5] This event is listed among major 2026 spaceflight milestones, indicating a significant step toward reusable orbital-class launchers in China’s program.[5]

On November 3, 2025, a Long March 8R first stage lit its engines at about 70 km altitude and made a powered descent, performing China’s first upright controlled recovery of a rocket booster, according to Chinese state-linked posts. The flight was described as demonstrating a reusable booster concept for the Long March 8R, although the stage was not yet reported to have been reflown in subsequent commercial missions.

The test marked a step toward a first orbital test flight for Pallas-1. It was conducted near Chizhou city in Anhui province and lasted just over 220 seconds. The report describes the vehicle as a reusable rocket under development, but does not say it has already flown, recovered, or reflown a first stage.

China has successfully recovered its first reusable orbital rocket booster, marking a major step toward making future space launches cheaper and more sustainable.[9] The recovery used a sea-based system to capture the booster after it completed its role in an orbital launch, underscoring China’s push toward commercial reusable launch technology.[9]

China has successfully tested a sea-based rocket booster recovery system, a breakthrough for the country's reusable space technology.[6] In a major leap for China's reusable space tech, private aerospace firm Space Epoch has successfully completed its first sea-based recovery, indicating that commercial actors in China are also pursuing reusable booster capabilities.[6]

China just completed its first-ever orbital rocket booster recovery at sea using a giant net system.[4] By mastering vertical reusability, Beijing joins an exclusive commercial club previously dominated by SpaceX, aiming to drastically slash global launch costs through routine reuse of rocket stages.[4]

China successfully recovered a rocket booster during an orbital launch test, advancing its reusable space technology despite several failed attempts.[10] The test demonstrates that China’s launch sector, including state-owned and potentially commercial providers, is moving toward recovered and eventually reflown stages for orbital missions.[10]

A video compilation of the Long March 10B reusable rocket launch and first stage recovery shows the booster landing on a sea platform and being caught by a cable net system. Commentary in the post emphasizes that this was China’s first successful recovery of a reusable orbital-class booster and that the second stage continued to orbit, but it gives no indication that the recovered stage has yet been reflown on further commercial launches.

China recovered its first reusable rocket and showed a new way to do it, using a sea-based net to catch the Long March 10B first stage after an orbital launch.[8] Discussion among spaceflight enthusiasts notes that this places China on a path similar to SpaceX’s, with expectations that commercial providers like Galactic Energy’s Pallas-1 could pursue first stage recovery and reflight in the coming years.[8]