China’s commercial space sector is advancing toward reusable, high-cadence cargo launches with two key milestones this month: the refurbishment of the Chang Zheng 10B booster for its first reflight and preparations for the inaugural launch of a commercial resupply spacecraft. The booster, recovered from the South China Sea on July 10, 2026, is now undergoing refurbishment in Tianjin ahead of a planned launch from Commercial Launch Site 3 in Hainan before the end of the year. Meanwhile, the China Manned Space Agency has selected two commercial providers—Qingzhou and Haolong—to develop spacecraft capable of servicing the Tiangong space station.
The Chang Zheng 10B booster’s recovery marked China’s first successful sea-based retrieval of an orbital-class stage. After descending into the South China Sea, the booster was captured by a net aboard the Linghangzhe recovery vessel and transported to Tianjin for refurbishment. Its transporter erector has since moved to Commercial Launch Site 3, adjacent to Wenchang Space Launch Site, where crews tested the pad’s water deluge system in preparation for the reflight. If successful, this launch would not only inaugurate the new commercial pad but also establish China’s first reflown orbital-class booster.
China’s push toward reusable launch systems extends beyond the Chang Zheng 10B. LandSpace achieved a landmark on August 19, 2026, when its ZhuQue-3 rocket became the first Chinese commercial booster to land an orbital-class first stage on land. The stage touched down in Minqin County, Gansu Province, nearly eight minutes after liftoff, though a post-landing fire damaged its aft section. Despite this setback, LandSpace called the mission a pivotal step toward operational reuse, validating its landing propulsion scheme and Hold-Down and Release Mechanism for payload deployment.
The ZhuQue-3’s success follows two earlier failed recovery attempts in December 2025: LandSpace’s first ZhuQue-3 mission ended in a crash landing due to abnormal combustion during descent, while a Chang Zheng 12A booster lost control during its own recovery attempt. A second Chang Zheng 12A launch, targeted for no earlier than November 3, 2026, could secure China’s third successful orbital booster recovery, each achieved by a different rocket type. This rapid progression underscores the sector’s determination to match the reuse cadence of U.S. commercial providers.
Complementing these booster advancements, China’s commercial resupply spacecraft are nearing operational readiness. The prototype Qingzhou, named Baixiang, completed its maiden flight in March, carrying 1,020 kilograms of scientific payloads—including an experiment to revive drought-tolerant desert moss—into sun-synchronous orbit. Though it did not dock with Tiangong, the mission demonstrated the spacecraft’s capacity to support long-duration experiments, with a design lifespan of up to three years in orbit. A second Qingzhou is under construction for launch no earlier than January 2027 aboard CAS Space’s Lijian-2 rocket, this time equipped to deliver 1,800 kilograms of supplies to Tiangong and return 2,900 kilograms of downmass for disposal.
The Qingzhou’s experiments included a microgravity fridge, a spider-grip adhesive anchor for orbital debris removal, and the release of two satellites, one of which performed rendezvous and proximity operations. Among its payloads was a moss revival experiment featuring Syntrichia caninervis, a species native to China’s deserts that survives extreme cold, dehydration, and radiation. Successful revival of the moss in microgravity could inform future life-support systems for Mars missions.
The second selected resupply contender, Haolong, is a reusable spaceplane developed by Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under AVIC. Designed to withstand atmospheric reentry and land on a runway, Haolong could carry up to 2,000 kilograms of upmass and downmass per mission. While no official timeline has been set for its first flight, Chengdu engineer Tang Wangyuan suggested a target of ten missions to spread development costs. The spaceplane’s wings fold to less than five meters for launch and extend to eight meters in orbit, with potential launch options including the Shuang Quxian-3, Chang Zheng 12B, and Chang Zheng 10B.
China’s commercial launch cadence is accelerating, with orbital launches up nearly 14 percent compared to October 2025 and 48 percent higher than October 2024. This surge includes eight successful sea-based launches since October 2025, using rockets like the Jielong-3, Yinli-1, and Gushenxing-1S. Galactic Energy, China’s leading commercial operator with 23 successful launches, recently shifted focus to its Zhishenxing-1 rocket, while CAS Space—with 17 missions—is preparing for its first seaborne launch of a Lijian-1 rocket from the Dongfang Hangtiangang platform in the South China Sea.
The Chang Zheng 10B itself is poised to support the Guowang satellite constellation, with plans to carry 18 satellites per launch. The constellation, now at 222 satellites, demonstrated polar connectivity during China’s 16th Arctic expedition in September, linking three research vessels with the Qinling station in Antarctica. Meanwhile, the Qianfan constellation—operated by Shanghai Spacesail—is targeting a rollout in China by the end of the year, with ground stations established in Brazil and Malaysia to support global ambitions. Both constellations aim for at least 13,000 satellites, comparable to SpaceX’s Starlink.
As China’s commercial space sector matures, the coordination of booster reflights, new cargo spacecraft, and high-cadence launches signals a shift toward operational parity with U.S. providers. The upcoming Chang Zheng 10B reflight and the debut of Qingzhou or Haolong for Tiangong resupply will mark critical steps in this evolution, with implications for both station logistics and the broader commercial launch market.
- Chang Zheng 10B: 63.6 meters tall, 5 meters wide, 16 metric tons to LEO, seven first-stage kerosene engines, one second-stage methane engine.
- Qingzhou (Baixiang prototype): 27 cubic meters internal volume, 1,020 kg payload capacity, sun-synchronous orbit, up to three-year mission duration.
- Haolong spaceplane: 2,000 kg upmass/downmass capacity, wings fold to <5 meters, extend to 8 meters in orbit, potential launch vehicles include Shuang Quxian-3, Chang Zheng 12B, and Chang Zheng 10B.
- Guowang constellation: 222 satellites as of October 9, 2026, targeting 13,000+ satellites, demonstrated polar connectivity in September 2026.
- ZhuQue-3: 76.6 meters tall, nine Tianzhi-series methane engines, first successful land-based recovery on August 19, 2026.
China’s commercial launch sites are expanding to support this activity. Commercial Launch Sites 3 and 4 in Hainan are completing final checkouts this month, with one expected to debut before year’s end. The sites’ proximity to Wenchang Space Launch Site and their infrastructure—including water deluge systems for booster recovery—position them as hubs for reusable launch operations. Meanwhile, i-Space is preparing its Shuang Quxian-3 rocket for a droneship landing attempt in early 2027, following static fire tests before the end of 2026.
The landing propulsion scheme reduces the number of engines used in the landing burn, further simplifying system design and improving reliability.
LandSpace, spaceflightnow.com
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