China achieves its first-ever controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage

At 12:15 p.m. on July 10, the Long March-10B carrier rocket blasted off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China's Hainan Province, successfully placing its payload into the planned orbit. About six minutes after first- and second-stage separation, the rocket's first stage returned and was successfully recovered on a sea-based platform using a net-capture system. The mission marked China's first successful controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, as well as the world's first successful net-based recovery of a launch vehicle.