China’s private company Space Epoch has completed its first sea recovery test of a reusable rocket. This important test took place off the coast of Shandong Province in eastern China.
The rocket, named Yanxingzhe-1, also known as XZY-1, is made of stainless steel and stands 26.8 meters tall. It had a diameter of 4.2 meters and weighed about 57 tonnes at liftoff. During the test flight, the rocket launched vertically and reached an altitude of 2.5 kilometers. The flight lasted around 125 seconds.
The rocket reignited its engine during its descent, slowed down, hovering above the sea surface, and then performed a soft vertical landing in the water. This kind of sea landing is an advanced method used to recover rockets so they can be reused, reducing the cost of future launches.
In a video released by the company, viewers could see the rocket’s engine reigniting and controlling its descent smoothly over the sea. It then splashed down in an upright position, similar to how SpaceX lands its Falcon 9 rockets.
After the flight, Space Epoch confirmed that the mission was fully successful. Engineers reviewed the data and found that all systems performed as expected. In a post shared on Space Epoch’s official WeChat account, the company said, “The success of this flight recovery test is a breakthrough in the development process of liquid reusable rockets.”
These systems are designed to bring rockets back safely so they can be used again, saving money and speeding up the pace of space missions. The idea was made popular by SpaceX in the United States, which has already landed its Falcon 9 rockets over 450 times.
Space Epoch is one of several Chinese startups working to match or even beat that success. In 2023, a company called i-Space completed two vertical takeoff and landing tests using its reusable rocket SQX-2Y. That same year, another private firm, Space Pioneer, became the first Chinese startup to reach orbit on its first try with the Tianlong-2 rocket. It took SpaceX four tries to achieve that milestone.
In early 2024, LandSpace, another Chinese space company, successfully tested its reusable rocket Zhuque-3. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology carried out 10-kilometer vertical landing tests, and Expace Technology conducted a brief vertical takeoff and landing with its Kuaizhou prototype.
Dr. Liu Xiaobin, an aerospace analyst based in Shanghai, said, “This is more than just a test flight. It proves that Chinese firms can now build rockets that not only fly but land safely, just like SpaceX. It brings the future of low-cost, reusable spaceflight much closer.”
