Six minutes after separation, the first stage of China’s Long March 10B came down under power and was caught on tensioned steel wires aboard a ship off the coast. That happened on July 10, 2026, on the rocket’s maiden flight.
The vehicle lifted off at 12:15 pm China Standard Time. Its seven YF-100K engines burned for about two and a half minutes before shutting down for stage separation, and the second stage’s YF-219 engine then took the payload on to orbit. The payload was an experimental satellite called CX-26, built by China Satellite Network Group, and it reached its planned 800-kilometer low Earth orbit.
How the catch works
The booster fired three YF-100K engines for a last time, then dropped to one to slow down and line itself up with the drone ship Linghangzhe. According to Friends of NASA, the catch took place 430 kilometers downrange.
Universe Today explained the mechanism. A hook on the rocket connects with tension cables as the booster descends, which slows it so a system of nets can take it. The cable system soaks up the remaining momentum and spares the ship much of the load. Auxiliary cables hold the stage steady against waves and wind while an automated locking platform slides beneath it and clamps it down for transport.
Other operators go a different way. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy use landing legs, Rocket Lab’s Electron relies on parachutes, and Starship’s Super Heavy booster is caught by large robotic arms called “Mechazilla”.
Universe Today called it the first booster recovered by China’s net system and the country’s first maritime rocket recovery. It also counted the 10B as only the fifth orbital-class rocket system to be recovered after a propulsive landing.
The rocket
The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), a division of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), announced in December 2025 that it would develop a commercial variant of its two-stage, medium-lift Long March-10. That variant is the 10B. It shares its first-stage core with the Long March-10A.
Published figures for its size differ. Universe Today put it at 70.2 meters tall, while Friends of NASA gave approximately 63 meters. Both describe a 5-meter core. The first stage burns liquid oxygen and kerosene and the upper stage burns liquid oxygen and methane. Friends of NASA lists a takeoff thrust of 890 tons. Both outlets give a payload capacity of up to 16 metric tons to low Earth orbit in the reusable configuration, aimed at large commercial satellites and internet constellations.
The flight proved out several technologies, according to Friends of NASA: methane autogenous pressurization, propellant management using baffled tanks, multiple engine restarts, high-altitude ignition, high-precision navigation and control, and the sea-based net capture itself.
The launch was the 657th of the Long March series and the 48th from China in 2026. It was also the first full flight of the Long March 10 series.
Universe Today tied the result to China’s push toward sending taikonauts to the Moon, which is currently planned for 2030.
Sources
- China Successfully Tests Reusable Long March-10B
- China Long March 10B Reusable Rocket Launch and First Stage Recovery Success
