China has for the first time launched a reusable carrier rocket, performing a controlled return of its first stage, Xinhua reports, writes UNN.
Details
On Friday, China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan. During the launch, a controlled return of the first stage of the carrier rocket was performed for the first time.
During its first flight, the Long March-10B carrier rocket delivered a payload to a designated orbit.
After separating from the second stage, the first stage of the rocket returned to Earth — it was "caught" on a sea platform using a net capture system. Both the launch and the return of the first stage were successful.
This mission marked China's first successful controlled return of a carrier rocket's first stage and a "major breakthrough for the country in the field of reusable carrier rocket technology," the publication writes.
The Long March-10B is a reusable commercial liquid-fueled carrier rocket. Its length is about 63 m, diameter 5 m, takeoff thrust about 890 tons, and takeoff mass about 760 tons. In its reusable configuration, it can deliver 16 tons to low Earth orbit.
Rocket reuse technology is applied by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin also performed the first successful landing of the first stage of its New Glenn rocket last November.
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