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Frank Chen

China’s controlled seaborne recovery of a rocket booster using a net-capture vessel last week proved the viability and virtues of its state-led aerospace efforts, experts said, contrasting it with the market-focused approach adopted by America’s SpaceX.
They also said Beijing was convinced that keeping the state, rather than a private company, at the helm of its space programme was a more secure, resilient and deliverable way to win a space race that had more than commercial interests at stake in the eyes of policymakers.
Friday’s recovery of a reusable Long March-10B rocket booster in the South China Sea turned a new page in the tech and space rivalry between China and the United States.
The retrieval made China the second nation to have mastered the precision recovery of an orbital-class rocket component, analysts said.
“A more confident Beijing is looking at the American model, represented by SpaceX’s dominance, with caution,” said Lung Siu Fung, director of research at the equity division of CCB International Securities, the Hong Kong-based investment banking and brokerage arm of China Construction Bank.
“China’s space sector is, in a nutshell, a national team. Unlike the US, China’s vibrant commercial space companies are playing a supplementary role.”


He said the US had first-mover advantages, augmented by SpaceX’s rapid technological iterations and a capital market willing to embrace high-risk, high-reward opportunities, but Beijing deemed its state-led model the best way to catch up.
“If China relied solely on organic, market-driven development, it would struggle to keep pace … China has to actuate a nationwide system: bridging the gap [with the US] requires national guidance, resources and mobilisation … Friday’s mission is a vindication of such an approach,” Lung said.
During the mission, the Long March booster deployed landing hooks as it fell through the sky, dropping precisely into an arresting net on a recovery vessel.
The rocket and capture platform were designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, with the approach shifting the engineering complexity from the rocket to the ship, eliminating the need for heavy, complex landing legs like those fitted on the boosters used by SpaceX.
Analysts also highlighted Beijing’s security considerations, with space viewed as more than a commercial arena.
China will not have a non-SOE giant with a grip on the entire sector, but commercial firms still have space to grow
Lung Siu Fung, CCB International Securities
“It’s a strategic domain where launches, satellite constellations, remote sensing and orbital infrastructure are tied to sovereignty, security and industrial policy,” said Bryan Luk, programme director of APAC Focus at the Institute for Greater China Studies, a think tank based in Hong Kong.
“It’s more than who offers the best tech at the lowest cost, but who can be entrusted with critical space infrastructure, sensitive data and national dependency … there is a broader turn towards space market protectionism, or at least selective strategic screening.”
Another example of China’s state-led approach is its Qianfan satellite constellation project – a nascent challenger to SpaceX’s Starlink.
Last month, after the number of Qianfan satellites passed the 200 mark, state broadcaster China Central Television described the race to build satellite infrastructure “a strategic battle between nations that China must win and control”.
While Starlink is under private ownership, the Qianfan project is being undertaken by Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology, a “national team” member backed by Shanghai’s city government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Qianfan’s chief commander, Hu Haiying, also heads CAS’ microsatellite academy.




CCB’s Lung said the SpaceX model did not align with Beijing’s emphasis on security, and China was unlikely to outsource critical space missions to a few private entities.
“China will not have a non-SOE giant with a grip on the entire sector, but commercial firms still have space to grow,” he said.
“China’s ecosystem is like ‘a hundred flowers blooming’ under government guidance and also in competition.”
He said many of China’s space players that were not state-owned enterprises (SOEs) benefited from substantial support from local authorities and that while they competed against each other, with several mulling initial public offerings, they were subject to strategic government coordination.
In another sign of Beijing’s determination to see public and private talent and resources coalesce, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) unveiled the first members of a Commercial Space Innovation Consortium on July 1.
The 271 members comprise SOEs and commercial entities with business covering satellite development, launch, telemetry, tracking, data application and other areas.
“The consortium will address bottlenecks like fragmented resources, lack of standards and insufficient collaboration,” CNSA said in a statement.


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Friday’s retrieval of a rocket booster made China the second nation to master the precision recovery of an orbital-class rocket component


Friday’s retrieval of a rocket booster made China the second nation to master the precision recovery of an orbital-class rocket component.


How China’s aerospace vision differs from Elon Musk’s SpaceX

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Friday’s retrieval of a rocket booster made China the second nation to master the precision recovery of an orbital-class rocket component

Friday’s retrieval of a rocket booster made China the second nation to master the precision recovery of an orbital-class rocket component