Long March 10

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.

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.

The Long March 10 lunar-mission configuration can send at least 27 tons of payload onto an Earth-moon transfer trajectory.

The maritime recovery followed a flight test of the Long March 10 first-stage booster integrated with the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft.

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.

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

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.

A crane lifted the recovered Long March 10 booster from the water and placed it on a recovery vessel for transport and subsequent analysis.

The standard lunar-mission configuration of Long March 10 consists of a central core booster flanked by multiple side boosters.

The shorter Long March 10 configuration for Tiangong resupply flights will omit the third stage to optimize the vehicle for low Earth orbit operations.

The Long March 10A test booster continued its flight after the Mengzhou capsule test, performed a simulated catch next to the autonomous recovery ship Linghangzhe and splashed down in the South China Sea.

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.

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.

The Long March 10A test booster passed just above the Kármán line and reached a peak altitude of 105 kilometers during its February 11 flight.

Recovery teams retrieved the Long March 10A test booster’s remaining lower half and concluded recovery operations on February 13, 2026.

The Long March 10 rocket’s third stage uses three hydrogen-burning YF-75DA engines.

The Long March 10A test booster performed a pseudo-entry burn during its flight to demonstrate part of reusable first-stage flight.

The Long March 10A test booster guided itself next to the recovery ship Linghangzhe and performed a planned hover five meters above the sea.

Two grid fins were deployed on the Long March 10A test booster during reentry, and one grid fin failed to unfurl correctly, leading flight computers to command the fin opposite to remain stowed.

The Long March 10A test booster’s boilerplate upper half sheared off upon contact with the sea surface after splashdown.