China’s second reusable rocket trial ends without successful landing

China has reportedly conducted its second major attempt this month to recover a reusable rocket booster; however the first stage was not successfully recovered during the rocket’s inaugural flight, marking an expected setback in its race to match SpaceX.

According to official reports from Xinhua, the second stage of the rocket successfully entered its planned orbit. This marks the second attempt this month to land and recover a rocker bolster, following the maiden flight of the Long March 12A.

The inaugural flight of the reusable rocket test is officially underway

China has been struggling in recent years to launch dozens of rockets that deliver satellites into orbit but has yet to successfully complete a rocket reusable test. This process requires the rocket’s large lower section, known as the first stage or booster, is yet to be recovered after launch.

Chinese state-owned and private rocket firms are working to test domestically developed reusable rockets, competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which achieved this capability several years ago.

It has been observed that reusability is pivotal to lowering launch costs, which could make it more economical to send satellites into space.

As reported by Reuters, SpaceX reusable rocket Falcon 9 has allowed its Starlink unit to attain a near-monoply on low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

China emerges as SpaceX’s primary challenger

Chinese firms have sent several hundred LEO satellites into orbit in recent years; however Beijing is unlikely to successfully catch up to Starlink if it develops its own version of the Falcon 9.

The race to become SpaceX’s primary Chinese contender intensified earlier this month when private rocket firm LandSpace became the first Chinese entity to attempt a reusable rocket test with the launch of Zhuque-3, though it failed due to a botched landing.

Further, the developer of the Long March 12A, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is a state-owned corporation with more than 100,000 employees and serves as the central rocket contractor for the country’s space program.

Nonetheless, this second failure in a month marks a major blow as it parallels the early history of SpaceX, which crashed multiple boosters before its first success in 2015.