China-Rocket/Controlled Recovery/Update
China-Rocket/Controlled Recovery/Update
Dateline : July 10, 2026/Recent
Location : China
Duration : 1'21
Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - July 10, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of Long March-10B carrier rocket blasting off, flying
2. First stage of rocket separating
3. First stage of rocket, main rocket in air
Hainan Province, south China - July 10, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of first stage of rocket landing on seaborne platform
Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - July 10, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Screen in control room showing first stage of rocket landing on seaborne platform, people cheering
Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Aerial shots of rocket on launchpad
FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of rocket in factory, engineers
Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Aerial shot of rocket on launchpad
Hainan Province, south China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
9. Aerial shots of seaborne platform
China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on Friday, achieving its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage.
The rocket, launched at 12:15 in its maiden flight, sent the payload into the preset orbit.
About six minutes after the separation of the rocket's first and second stages, the first stage returned and was successfully captured on a seaborne platform via a net-capture system. Both the launch and the first-stage recovery were successfully completed.
This mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, representing a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology.
Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Long March-10B is a large, two-stage liquid-fueled carrier rocket featuring a 5-meter diameter core. Standing approximately 63 meters tall with a takeoff thrust of 890 tons, the rocket utilizes liquid oxygen and kerosene for its first stage and liquid oxygen and methane for its second.
Designed with reusability in mind, it boasts a low Earth orbit (LEO) payload capacity of 16 tonnes in reusable mode, offering a highly cost-effective solution for deploying large commercial satellites and LEO internet constellations.
Friday's mission successfully validated several core technologies, including combined configuration optimization, methane autogenous pressurization, and propellant management using baffled tanks. Notably, it demonstrated critical first-stage reuse technologies such as multiple engine restarts, high-altitude ignition, adaptability to complex aerothermal environments, high-precision navigation and control, and a sea-based net-capture recovery system.
Looking ahead, the development team plans to continuously optimize the rocket's performance and accelerate the iteration of its reusable technologies, with a targeted first-stage reuse flight scheduled for the end of this year.
The successful maiden flight of the Long March-10B marks the 657th launch of the Long March rocket series.
ID : 8488731
Published : 2026-07-10 15:06
Last Modified : 2026-07-10 20:06:46
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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