China achieves first-ever controlled rocket recovery in Long March-10B maiden flight

A Long March-10B carrier rocket blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, July 10, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu) WENCHANG, Hainan, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket at the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China's Hainan Province on Friday, achieving its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage. The rocket, in its maiden flight, sent the payload into the preset orbit. After the separation of the rocket's first and second stages, the first stage returned and was successfully captured on a seaborne platform via a net-capture system. Both the launch and the first-stage recovery were successfully completed. This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology. The Long March-10B carrier rocket, a reusable liquid-fueled commercial launch vehicle, stands approximately 63 meters tall with a diameter of 5 meters. It has a liftoff thrust of about 890 tonnes and a liftoff mass of approximately 760 tonnes. In its reusable configuration, it has a low Earth orbit (LEO) payload capacity of 16 tonnes. This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu) China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket here on Friday, achieving its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu) After the separation of the rocket's first and second stages, the first stage returned and was successfully captured on a seaborne platform via a net-capture system. Both the launch and the first-stage recovery were successfully completed. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu) This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu) This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu) This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli)