Long March 10

China has not disclosed how engineers plan to process or reuse the recovered Long March 10 hardware.

Engineers state that the first two stages of the Long March 10 core booster are essentially common to both the lunar and the shorter space-station variants.

Engineers consider the Long March 10 rocket and the Mengzhou spacecraft core elements of China’s roadmap to land astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.

A shorter variant of the Long March 10 without side boosters is under development and will be 67 meters tall with a liftoff mass of about 740 tons.

Plans call for the shorter Long March 10 configuration to support crew and cargo transportation to the Tiangong space station.

The Long March 10 first-stage booster performed a controlled return using its engines and grid fins before a splashdown in a preselected area of the South China Sea.

Both the Long March 10 rocket and the Mengzhou spacecraft are in the final stages of research and development at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

In both Long March 10 configurations, the first-stage booster is intended to be reusable and to perform controlled returns after launch.

China Manned Space Agency recovered a Long March 10 first-stage booster from a designated splashdown zone on a Friday morning.

The Long March 10 is a new-generation launch vehicle designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.

The Long March 10 in its lunar-mission configuration stands 92.5 meters tall and measures 5 meters in diameter.

The shorter Long March 10 variant will be capable of carrying 14 tons to low Earth orbit.

The Long March 10A booster performed a guided oceanic splashdown after the February 11 flight, marking the first booster stage recovery for China.

The Mengzhou capsule flew atop a Long March 10A booster during the February 11 test.

The Long March 10A booster was on its first test flight during the February 11 mission.

The Long March 10A booster reached a peak altitude of 105 kilometers during the February 11 test.

The Long March 10A test booster flew from Launch Complex 301 at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on February 11, 2026 carrying the Mengzhou capsule for an in-flight abort test.

An extension was placed atop the Long March 10 series static fire article to install four grid fins and catch hooks, creating the Long March 10A test booster.