China captures rocket booster in sea recovery breakthrough, challenging US space rivals

On Friday morning, the Chinese company China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation successfully launched a Long March 10B rocket and reused its launch vehicle, marking a major breakthrough in the competition with the United States and dominant players Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.

China managed to recover the lower part of the rocket - which provides the thrust needed to lift off from the ground - via a net-based system on an offshore platform, according to the space agency.

With this, China becomes the first in the world to recover the launch part of a rocket via a net-based system at sea.

Reusing part of the rocket helps lower the costs of launching satellites.