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China is catching up to Elon Musk’s reusable rockets
China’s state-owned Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) has become the second country to successfully recover a rocket booster at sea, launching a Long March orbital rocket and landing the booster on a seagoing recovery vessel—a reusable rocket milestone that positions CASC to compete with SpaceX on launch cost reduction. The demonstration on Friday used netting strung across a large frame on the recovery ship to capture the descending booster, rather than Falcon 9’s landing legs. CASC said it will attempt to reuse the booster—which carries payload comparable to Falcon 9—by year-end. The feat relies on advanced guidance software, sensors, and restartable engines rugged enough to survive atmospheric reentry. SpaceX currently dominates with its reusable Falcon 9 fleet, enabling Starlink’s cheap, regular launches and contracts with NASA and the U.S. Space Force. Victoria Samson of the Secure World Foundation called China’s achievement a “huge game changer,” noting that reusability will drastically lower launch costs and allow China to offer cheap launches to allies as soft power outreach. While national security rules split the global rocket market between U.S./Europe and Russia/China, a reusable Long March would let China’s satellite networks and orbital data centers compete with Starlink in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, diminishing U.S. military space advantages. The booster recovery comes days after reports of China-Russia cooperation on ways to damage Starlink due to its Ukraine successes. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s larger Starship—expected to attempt another launch this month after a static fire test—and competitors like Blue Origin (which recovered a booster in 2025 but had a May pad explosion), Rocket Lab’s Neutron, and Stoke Space’s fully reusable rocket are all racing to advance reusability.