SpaceX rides high after a landmark initial public offering, but China aims to narrow the gap with Elon Musk in space technology.

China completed the first controlled landing of a Long March-10B reusable rocket booster on Friday. The achievement marks the country's initial success in launching and recovering part of an orbital-class reusable vehicle.

With this milestone, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp now stands with SpaceX and Blue Origin as the only entities to have returned a first-stage booster intact.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning described the event as a major advance toward reusable launch systems.

Reports indicate the booster touched down on a recovery barge roughly six minutes after liftoff and was secured by a large net in what is believed to be the first net-assisted rocket recovery.

Recovering the booster instead of allowing it to burn up during reentry is essential for reusable designs that cut launch expenses dramatically. SpaceX first landed a booster in 2015 and has since flown its Falcon 9 vehicle hundreds of times with recovered stages.

In 2024 SpaceX demonstrated a new technique by using tower arms to catch its massive Super Heavy booster.

Blue Origin recorded its own first booster landing last November when the initial stage of its New Glenn rocket settled onto an ocean platform. The company later faced a setback when New Glenn was damaged during a May launchpad incident.

The successful recovery advances China's goal of closing the operational lead held by SpaceX, which continues to place more mass into orbit than any rival.

China is also developing its own satellite broadband network through SpaceSail, which has placed roughly 200 satellites in orbit since 2024, still far fewer than the approximately 10,000 satellites operating in Starlink's constellation.

The Long March vehicle carries up to 16 tons to orbit, trailing the Falcon 9's 25-ton capacity and the higher targets set for Starship.

Musk noted in an October post that Chinese reusable designs incorporate elements such as stainless steel construction and methalox propulsion, potentially allowing them to surpass Falcon 9 performance while remaining behind Starship capabilities.