China's new rocket challenges SpaceX

DEEP INSIGHT · Jul 21, 2026 · 14m · transcript

China has officially challenged SpaceX’s reusability monopoly by successfully recovering its new Long March-10B rocket booster via an innovative sea-based net system. Developed by the ⁠China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the orbital-class booster completed its maiden flight from Hainan Island and executed a controlled vertical descent into a massive, cable-suspended net on a floating marine barge. This milestone makes China only the second entity in the world—after the United States—to successfully retrieve an orbital rocket booster.

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