SpaceX no longer a global leader: China's Long March 10B challenges Elon Musk's reusable rocket dominance

For nearly a decade, Elon Musk's SpaceX has dominated the reusable rocket revolution, making precision booster recoveries look almost routine. But a successful launch off China's coast has signalled that the race is entering a new phase.

On the maiden flight of its reusable Long March 10B rocket, China not only reached orbit but also recovered its first-stage booster using a sea-based platform — marking a major technological milestone and a direct challenge to SpaceX's long-held lead in reusable launch systems.

While SpaceX famously guides Falcon 9 boosters — and is now developing the fully reusable Starship system using its "catch" mechanism at the launch tower — Chinese engineers have adopted a different recovery strategy: catching the descending booster using a sea-based recovery platform fitted with a giant net. 

The achievement marks China's first successful recovery of an orbital-class reusable rocket booster and signals that Beijing is rapidly advancing technologies considered essential for the next era of affordable spaceflight. 

Different solution to the same problem 

The Long March 10B lifted off from the Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site on Hainan Island before separating its first-stage booster roughly three minutes into flight. Around six minutes after launch, the booster performed a controlled powered descent toward a specially designed recovery vessel waiting at sea.

Instead of deploying landing legs like Falcon 9, the booster used four specially designed hooks that latched onto a suspended net mounted on the offshore platform. According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), eliminating landing legs reduces structural weight, allowing the rocket to carry heavier payloads while simplifying refurbishment between flights. 

The recovered booster is expected to fly again before the end of the year, an important milestone if China hopes to establish a truly reusable launch system. 

Why reusable rockets matter 

Rocket launches remain among the most expensive parts of any space mission because conventional boosters are discarded after a single use. 

SpaceX transformed the economics of spaceflight by routinely recovering and reusing Falcon 9 first stages, dramatically lowering launch costs and increasing launch frequency. The company now launches hundreds of missions annually while supporting its rapidly expanding Starlink satellite constellation.

China is pursuing the same objective

The Long March 10B is designed to place around 16 tonnes into low-Earth orbit while recovering its first stage, making it suitable for commercial satellite launches and future space infrastructure. Reusability is also expected to play a key role in supporting China's planned crewed lunar missions later this decade. 

The successful recovery comes after several years of steady progress in China's reusable launch efforts. 

Earlier recovery experiments involving reusable Long March variants and commercial launch providers yielded mixed results, underscoring the complexity of precision booster recovery. This latest success suggests those lessons are beginning to pay off. 

China's commercial space industry is also expanding rapidly. State-backed organisations and private companies are investing heavily in reusable launch systems to compete for satellite deployment contracts and support the country's planned mega-constellations, which could eventually challenge SpaceX's Starlink network. 

Not yet a SpaceX rival 

Despite the breakthrough, SpaceX retains a substantial lead. The company has accumulated hundreds of successful Falcon 9 booster landings and is now focused on making Starship — the world's largest rocket — fully reusable for missions to the Moon and Mars. 

China's Long March 10B represents an earlier stage of that journey. However, successfully recovering an orbital-class booster on its maiden flight is a significant milestone that demonstrates the country's rapid progress in reusable launch technology.