China Debuts Another Big Rocket Designed for Reusability in Surprise Launch

The competition to develop China's first reusable launch vehicle is unfolding with far more uncertainty than a similar race that played out in the United States a decade ago. In the US, it was a foregone conclusion that SpaceX would be the first to develop and demonstrate a reusable orbital-class rocket. In 2015, SpaceX successfully landed a Falcon 9 booster for the first time, and just over a year later, it launched the same booster back into space.

It took nearly a decade for another company to follow suit. Blue Origin achieved its first orbital-class booster landing last November, recovering one of its New Glenn boosters, and then relaunched the same rocket in April. The landscape in China is much more fluid.

Several companies and state-owned enterprises are in the running to land an orbital-class booster stage this year. Initially, it seemed that China's privately funded launch companies might have an edge in achieving the first landing of an orbital-class booster. However, the surprise launch of China's Long March 12B rocket on Monday suggests that the country's established aerospace players may now have an advantage.

The Long March 12B rocket is backed by the substantial resources of China's state-owned aerospace enterprise, which may prove decisive in the quest for reusability. For a time, privately funded companies appeared poised to make the breakthrough, but the emergence of the Long March 12B rocket has altered the dynamics of the competition. The development of a reusable launch vehicle is a significant milestone in the evolution of China's space program, and the country is investing heavily in the technology.

As the competition continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see which players ultimately succeed in landing an orbital-class booster stage and demonstrating the capability for reusability.