BEIJING — China has successfully recaptured the first stage of a rocket on land for the first time, state media reported Wednesday, as the country seeks to advance its space program.
\n\nAlthough this marks China’s first successful recovery on land, it is the second time the country has recovered a rocket stage, following a successful recovery on a sea platform in July.
\n\nXinhua, China’s state-run news agency, said the reusable rocket, Zhuque-3, was launched Wednesday morning and that the rocket’s first stage was recovered afterward.
\n\nChinese rocket explodes moments after liftoff
\n\nElon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been recovering rockets since 2015, helping drive down launch costs by reusing hardware that would otherwise be discarded after carrying satellites and other payloads toward space.
\n\nXinhua said that Wednesday’s recovery also marked China’s first use of deployable landing legs and deemed the result “a major breakthrough in the country’s reusable rocket technology.”
\n\nOn July 10, the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket separated from the second stage after liftoff and returned to a platform at sea. That time, it was recovered using a net-capture system.
\n\nThe next day, on July 11, Japan conducted the first test flight of…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health