Launch of the Chinese Long March 10B Rocket: New Images and Videos of the Booster's Reentry

Yesterday morning, at 6:15 AM in Italy, the Long March 10B rocket (also known as Chang Zheng 10B, CZ-10B, or Long March 10B) was launched from Pad 2 of the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center. This is an important moment for China and its space program, both crewed and for satellite solutions.

CZ-10B is one of the variants of the Long March 10 family that will serve various purposes, such as reaching the Tiangong space station, launching megaconstellations of satellites, and missions to the Moon. Specifically, CZ-10B has a first stage powered by RP-1 and liquid oxygen, and a second stage that uses methane and liquid oxygen; CZ-10A uses only RP-1 and oxygen for both the first and second stages, while CZ-10 is a non-reusable solution with three boosters. CZ-10C will be a future development that will utilize methane and liquid oxygen for the first and second stages.

Shortly after the launch of Long March 10B, several videos and images, including high-resolution ones, were released showing the takeoff and recovery of the first stage (which is identical to that of CZ-10 and CZ-10A, but different from CZ-10C). According to reports, the CX-26 satellite (the mission's payload) successfully reached its defined orbit. This indicates a successful mission in all aspects.

It’s worth noting that this is the second launch of a first stage CZ-10A, although the first was for a suborbital mission testing the Mengzhou capsule. However, this marks the first orbital mission, the first complete recovery of the first stage, and the first use of a CZ-10B second stage, which is slightly more powerful than CZ-10A.

There are still some points to clarify, particularly the black smoke visible during the reentry of the Long March 10B first stage. According to some information, this might be related to the monopropellant system for attitude correction, but it wasn’t visible during the launch of CZ-10A (and the carrier was similar). This suggests either the activation of controlled venting or some issues during the first stage’s reentry.

In the closer images, some damaged cables from the first stage can also be seen. However, these damages do not appear to be serious. In the future, additional protective layers could be added to improve the durability of the cables and make the droneship Ling Hang Zhe usable for more missions with reduced downtime for repairs.

After the successful landing of Long March 10B, discussions arose online regarding how this first stage recovery system was not invented by the Chinese. In the past, Blue Origin had previously shown a patent for a similar mechanism (never used), and a similar system had also been considered for SpaceX's Starship, but the company chose to use Mechazilla for the recovery of the new vehicle. Additionally, a recovery system via cabling had been patented in China many years ago, but it has only now been put into use with CZ-10A/CZ-10B/CZ-10C. Overall, it is likely that rather than being a copy, this represents a case of multiple invention.

In the case of CZ-10B, this is the first successful recovery of a first stage after failed attempts with other Chinese carriers launched in recent months (which did not achieve their goals). Although China remains behind the USA and its private companies, particularly SpaceX, the progress made by the Asian nation in just a few years is impressive, from scientific missions in deep space to the Chinese Tiangong space station, leading to a crewed space program that will send China's first crew to the Moon in the coming years (possibly as early as 2029).