WORLDTECHChina’s new 25-ton heavy lifter copying SpaceX’s wildest rocket recovery
Full credit
File:Launch of the Roman Space Telescope (NASA livestream).webm / NASA Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday's Image APOD: 2026 August 30 – M74: A Grand Design Spiral Tomorrow's Image / Launch of the Roman Space Telescope / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Launch_of_the_Roman_Space_Telescope_(NASA_livestream).webmSource pageWhat happened
On Monday, Chinese commercial startup Deep Blue Aerospace announced that the 5-meter-diameter (16ft) stainless steel propellant (the fuel a rocket burns) tank for its Nebula-2 rocket has rolled off the assembly line. Deep Blue Aerospace is narrowing the technological gap with Western space leaders through its pad-captured, stainless-steel rocket design. SpaceX is a space company based in Hawthorne.
The race for cheap, lightning-fast access to orbit has a new, giant metallic contestant. It is a massive piece of technology.
Above all, it shows that China’s private space sector is ready to clone one of the most audacious tricks in modern rocketry: catching a returning booster mid-air with giant mechanical “chopsticks.” Reusability and rapid turnaround times remain the core measures of success in modern commercial spaceflight.
Key facts
- On Monday, Chinese commercial startup Deep Blue Aerospace — announced: that the 5-meter-diameter (16ft) stainless steel propellant tank for its Nebula-2 rocket has rolled off the assembly line
Sources & evidence
- Interesting Engineering Reporting source
China’s new 25-ton heavy lifter copying SpaceX’s wildest rocket recovery ↗
https://interestingengineering.com/space/china-firm-progresses-reusable-rocket