China Secures First Long March 10 Maritime Booster Recovery

China Validates Reusable Lunar Architecture with Historic Maritime Booster Recovery

Mohd Hanif Ismail - : Feb 17, 2026 - : 9:12 pm

To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:

The Asia-Pacific space race has entered a new phase of technical maturity following China’s successful retrieval of a heavy-lift rocket component from the ocean. On 13 February 2026, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed the first-ever maritime recovery of a Long March 10 first-stage booster. The operation, conducted in the South China Sea, follows a pivotal flight test on 11 February 2026, which saw the booster and the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft prototype perform a high-stakes demonstration of re-entry and abort systems. This achievement marks the transition of the Chinese launch industry from experimental vertical landing concepts to operational maritime salvage, a capability previously dominated by United States commercial entities.

Technical milestones and flight profile

During the mid-week test at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, the Long March 10 booster reached an altitude of approximately 110 kilometres before deploying four grid fins to stabilise its descent. The flight profile included a powered deceleration phase where two of the rocket’s engines were reignited to manage position and velocity. Unlike previous land-based "hop" tests, this mission required the hardware to survive a controlled splashdown in a predetermined maritime zone. According to reports from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and Xinhua, the booster was subsequently "fished out" by a specialised maritime search and recovery team using a crane-equipped vessel, marking a milestone in the nation's reusable launch vehicle (RLV) roadmap.

Strategic implications for the Asia-Pacific

The successful recovery is framed by regional analysts as a critical hurdle cleared for China’s goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2030. Original reports from China Daily and Space Daily highlight that the Long March 10, standing 92.5 metres tall with a liftoff weight of 2,189 metric tons, is being developed in two primary variants. The heavy-lift lunar version is designed to transport 27 tons to an Earth-moon transfer trajectory, while the 67-metre Long March 10A variant—the focus of current reusability efforts—targets near-Earth orbit operations. By establishing a maritime recovery pipeline in the South China Sea, Beijing is not only reducing the cost per kilogramme to orbit but also demonstrating a sophisticated logistics network capable of supporting high-cadence launches from its coastal Hainan facility.

Industry response and safety validation

The mission also served as a "maximum dynamic pressure" (Max-Q) abort test for the Mengzhou spacecraft. After separating from the booster, the capsule successfully deployed a triple-parachute system to ensure a gentle splashdown. The China Manned Space Agency stated that the success "offered crucial experience for subsequent space station operation and crewed lunar landing." Industry figures have noted the precision required for such an operation, with one CMSA official stating in a news release that the test "successfully verified the first-stage ascent and recovery phases," accumulating "valuable data and experience" for the 2030 mission. This sentiment was echoed by designers who confirmed that the core stages of the lunar and orbital variants are essentially identical, allowing for rapid scaling of the recovered technology across the entire rocket family.