China on Wednesday successfully recaptured the first stage of a reusable rocket on land for the first time, state media reported.
The 66.1-metre Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket blasted off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China, Xinhua News Agency reported.
It lifted off with the nine-engine first stage, or booster, returning to a landing site in Gansu province, 390 kilometres southeast of the launch pad.
The land-based recovery was completed with the rocket's first stage touching down smoothly at the designated position at the recovery site. The second stage sent the onboard Honghu-03 satellite into preset orbit.
Highlighting a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology, the flight mission followed the successful sea-based net recovery of the Long March-10B's first stage on July 10.
Developed by Chinese commercial aerospace company LandSpace, Zhuque-3 is approved by the China National Space Administration as a new-generation liquid oxygen-methane-powered rocket for low-cost, high-capacity and high-frequency launches.
Zhuque-3 is made of stainless steel, which offers greater heat resistance and the prospect of reduced production costs It can lift 14.2 metric tonnes to low Earth orbit on a one-way trip.
China last month recovered the first stage of an orbital rocket for reuse for the first time but at sea, joining the United States as the only countries to have pulled off the feat.
This marks China's entry into the small club of nations capable of recovering orbital-class rocket boosters for potential reuse — a technique pioneered and refined by US company SpaceX with its Falcon 9 rocket.
