China achieves first stage rocket recapture
AerospaceComments
Even with high initial costs, this push for efficiency often leads to breakthroughs in materials science. Those improvements could eventually lower the barrier for smaller nations to access space through shared Chinese launch services.
Does it even matter if it is the same rocket? Once the capability is proven, the scaling is just an engineering problem. It is like the early days of the 737: the prototype is the proof, the production is the profit.
We heard similar claims about the Long March variants a few years back that never actually materialized into a fleet. I suspect the "major technical hurdle" is actually a series of smaller, more annoying hurdles involving thermal shielding.
This arrives while the US is tightening export controls on high-end flight controllers. Success is one thing; scaling a fleet with limited component access is another.
It is so exciting... especially since their recent tests showed a significant increase in payload capacity for the heavy-lift versions... this could make their lunar plans move way faster!
Regarding the lunar plans, do we know if this specific recapture method is compatible with the larger rockets intended for those missions, or is this limited to the smaller test vehicles?
it's not about cost, it's about launch cadence.
While cadence is critical for orbital infrastructure, I have to disagree that cost is secondary. The capital expenditure required for the initial infrastructure of a recovery fleet is immense; the economic viability relies entirely on reducing the cost per kilogram to orbit.