China In Photo: Making History! China achieves first-ever controlled rocket recovery

China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket at the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China's Hainan Province on Friday, achieving its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage.

On its maiden flight, the rocket successfully delivered its payload to the designated orbit. 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.