China lands reusable rocket stage on land for first time

China has successfully recovered the first stage of a rocket on land for the first time, state media reported on Wednesday, marking a significant step in the country's effort to advance reusable rocket technology.

The reusable Zhuque-3 rocket was launched on Wednesday morning, after which its first stage was successfully recovered on land, China's state news agency Xinhua reported.

The achievement marks China's first successful land recovery of a rocket stage and its second successful recovery overall. In July, the country recovered the first stage of a rocket on a sea platform.

Xinhua described Wednesday's recovery as a “major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology”. It was also China's first use of deployable landing legs during such a recovery.

Reusable rocket technology has been led by US companies including SpaceX and Blue Origin, which have been recovering rocket stages since 2015. Reusing rocket hardware that would otherwise be discarded can help reduce the cost of launching satellites and other payloads into space.

On July 10, the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket separated from its second stage after liftoff and returned to a platform at sea. It was recovered using a net-capture system.

China's latest achievement comes as other countries are also accelerating efforts to develop reusable launch systems.

Japan conducted the first test flight of an experimental reusable rocket on July 11, with the vehicle taking off and landing safely.

Japan is also seeking to develop reusable rocket technology to reduce launch costs and strengthen its position in the increasingly competitive global space market.