China becomes first nation to recover orbital launch rockets with 2 distinct paths

In a global first, China’s leading commercial rocket company LandSpace has recovered a stainless-steel booster after an orbital launch. The mission, which took place Wednesday morning, makes Zhuque-3 China’s first commercial rocket to both reach orbit and have its first stage recovered on land. SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster, which is also made of stainless steel, is awaiting US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for its first recovery flight to send the company’s Starship into orbit.