BEIJING, July 10 — China’s state-owned space contractor has demonstrated a rocket technology that could reshape the global launch market, and Central Asian nations with growing satellite ambitions should take note. The Long March 10B’s first stage performed a controlled vertical landing on its debut flight, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The technique mirrors the landing method pioneered by SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which first achieved a successful vertical touchdown in December 2015.
As of June 2024, the Falcon 9 had completed over 200 successful landings. This maiden recovery is a first for any Chinese orbital rocket, CASC data shows.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of landing attempts or its success rate, but the achievement marks a significant technological leap.
Engine and design differences
The Long March 10B uses a cluster of seven YF-100K engines on its first stage, each burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. The Falcon 9 uses nine Merlin 1D engines. China’s landing system incorporates grid fins and landing legs, analogous to SpaceX’s design.
Size is a key differentiator. The Long March 10B has a liftoff thrust of about 2,600 metric tons, compared to Falcon 9’s 760 metric tons.
That makes the Chinese vehicle substantially larger, a factor that could influence payload capacity and mission profiles relevant to regional customers. China began reusable rocket research in 2018, officials noted. Suborbital tests followed in 2020 and 2021.
The Long March 10B’s success narrows the gap with SpaceX, which has operated reusable rockets for nearly nine years.
Market implications
For Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states, the economics of space launch matter directly. Reusable rockets cut per-flight costs, and a second major operator with proven recovery technology could drive down prices for satellite deployment. The region’s growing Earth-observation and communications satellite programs stand to benefit from increased competition.
The Falcon 9 has dominated the commercial launch market since its first successful landing in 2015, data shows. SpaceX’s reusability record—over 200 landings—has given it a pricing advantage that competitors have struggled to match.
CASC has not announced a commercial pricing strategy for the Long March 10B. But the company’s ability to recover and potentially reuse the first stage changes the cost calculus for Chinese launch services.
What to watch next
The development timeline suggests China is moving faster than many analysts expected. From initial research in 2018 to a successful orbital-stage recovery represents an eight-year development cycle. SpaceX took roughly a decade from its first Falcon 9 flight in 2010 to routine reusability.
Industry observers will watch for CASC’s next steps: how many landing attempts the company makes, what success rate it achieves, and whether it begins offering reused-stage launches at discounted rates. For Central Asian satellite operators, those answers will determine how quickly the new competition translates into lower launch costs.
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