PETER W. SINGER and ALEX NOVA
On May 29, the Yuanxingzhe-1 suborbital rocket took off from a platform in the Yellow Sea, carrying with it not just the hopes of its maker—a Chinese commercial launch firm called Space Epoch—but also the prospects for China’s next phase in its space power.
The 64-meter rocket came to a hover about 2.5 km up, then landed vertically at the Oriental Spaceport in Haiyang, Shandong, marking the first known successful maritime vertical takeoff and vertical landing by a Chinese rocket company.
The test flight drew far less international coverage than, say, the pioneering SpaceX flights that preceded it. But it underscores China’s rapidly accelerating efforts to master reusable rocket technology. According to the company, the test verified guidance control, engine throttling, and sea-based recovery procedures for future reusable launch missions.
It also signals a strategic shift: Beijing is not only expanding its domestic space launch capacity, but also preparing a logistics backbone to support resilient, low-cost access to orbit that could reshape both commercial and military space operations.
China’s reusable-rocket objectives have expanded rapidly over the last five years, driven by both state-owned and private-sector space firms. Besides Space Epoch, there is Landscape, a 10-year-old, Beijing-based company whose Zhuque-2 became the world’s first methane-liquid oxygen rocket to reach space in 2023.
Its follow-on Zhuque-3 is designed for full-stage reusability. In September, the slender stainless-steel rocket launched from a remote expanse of China’s Gobi Desert, hovered in mid-air, and then descended vertically back to Earth, settling gently on its landing legs. With a 21.3-ton payload capacity and planned for the second half of 2025 and stage recovery targeted for 2026, Landspace is laying the foundation for a parallel architecture of low-cost, high-frequency launches that could transform both commercial and military space operations.
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