China catches Long March 10B booster at sea after launch
China just pulled off a pretty cool space move, successfully catching a rocket booster at sea for the first time.
The Long March 10B rocket launched from Hainan; its booster separated, and then returned vertically about six minutes later, getting scooped up by a net on an offshore platform.
This experiment is a big deal for making rockets reusable, which could make future satellite launches cheaper and help China compete with the US in space technology.
Long March 10B uses landing hooks
The Long March 10B can haul at least 16 metric tons to low Earth orbit, but what really sets it apart is how it's recovered, using "landing hooks" instead of landing itself like SpaceX's Falcon 9.
This successful test has already given a boost to Chinese aerospace stocks. Plus, the Long March 10B could help validate technologies for China's planned Moon missions before 2030, with plans to reuse this very booster later this year.
It's another step forward for China's growing ambitions in space.