China Recovers Long March Booster on Ship at Sea, Second Nation After U.S.

China’s state-owned space company launched a Long March orbital rocket on July 10, 2026, and landed the booster on a seagoing recovery vessel. The demonstration makes China the second country to achieve booster recovery on a ship at sea. The recovery used netting strung across a large frame on the vessel.

China’s Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stated it would attempt to reuse the booster by the end of 2026. The booster can carry about as much payload as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. SpaceX continues to set annual launch records with reusable Falcon 9 boosters.

Blue Origin recovered a booster in 2025 and reused it earlier in 2026, though one of its rockets exploded on the launch pad in May. A static fire test of the Starship booster occurred on July 10, 2026. The Long March booster recovery took place days after a consortium of investigative journalists reported new documents showing China and Russia cooperating on ways to damage Starlink.