On Friday, the bottom part of a rocket that had been launched just minutes earlier descended toward what looked like a stubby drilling derrick floating in the South China Sea. As the rocket stage, known as a booster, slowed almost to a stop and precisely maneuvered into the center of the structure, a grid of wires gently closed around it.
It was a remarkable success for a Chinese government-owned space company. On the inaugural flight of its new Long March 10B rocket, it nailed a critical step toward China’s goal of developing reusable rockets.
The wire-catching technique was also novel. By snagging the booster as it hovered above the platform, engineers eliminated the need to equip the booster with landing legs.
The milestone offered further evidence that China’s space industry, while still trailing that of the United States, may be closing the gap. Reusing rockets instead of discarding them after one launch enables a quicker pace of operation — more like jetliners — and reduces costs for the launching of satellites and other payloads.
But Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank in Washington, was not overly impressed, noting that Elon Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, first landed a booster more than 10 years ago with its Falcon 9 rocket. The Long March 10B is roughly comparable in size and capability to the Falcon 9.
“It means they are making progress,” Mr. Harrison said of the Chinese, “but not necessarily catching up to where U.S. capabilities are today.”
