Chinese company tests first reusable rocket and prepares to compete with SpaceX.

The Chinese company conducted successful tests of the reusable carrier rocket

The Chinese commercial space company Beijing Space Epoch Technology (Sepoch) has announced the successful completion of its first tests of a reusable carrier rocket and its safe return. Thus, China is ready to join the United States, where Elon Musk's SpaceX has been operating reusable rockets for nearly a decade, writes Global Times.

The launch took place from the Eastern Aerospace Port, a maritime cosmodrome off the coast of Haiyan city in Shandong province in eastern China. The country's first reusable rocket powered by liquid oxygen and methane, with a full-scale stainless steel design and a marine soft landing system, successfully completed its initial tests, which consisted of flight and landing on water.

Yuanxingzhe-1, the reusable version of Sepoch's Hiker rockets, is a carrier rocket with a diameter of 4.2 meters, a height of 26.8 meters, and a launch mass of about 57 tons. The flight lasted 125 seconds and reached an altitude of about 2.5 kilometers, after which the carrier rocket successfully landed and was delivered to the shore.

The conducted test marks the entry of the new carrier rocket into the phase of technical application, while a full-fledged first flight into space for this type of rocket is planned for the current year. During the test, the company demonstrated the technology of vertical takeoff and vertical landing, where the rocket uses engines to slow down and control descent.

Competition and innovations in the space industry

The event in China confirms the rapid development of the space industry in the country and the competition with SpaceX in the use of reusable rockets for orbital missions. The Chinese company Sepoch is striving to become a serious player in this innovative direction and showcases impressive achievements in this regard.