It seems like every other week, a new Chinese launch company comes up with a rocket design and a plan to reach orbit within a few years. At long last, most of these companies unveiled designs that looked a lot like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The first of these copy cats, the medium-lift Zhuke-3 rocket built by Landscaping, was launched earlier this month. Its primary mission was nominal, but the Zhuke-3 rocket failed in its landing attempt, which is understandable for a maiden flight. There is no doubt that more Chinese Falcon 9-like rockets will make their debut in the near future.
However, over the past year, there has been a distinct change in China’s announcements when it comes to new launch technology. Just as SpaceX is trying to transition from its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket — which has been flying for a decade and a half now — to a fully reusable Starship design, Chinese companies are also revising their approach.
Everybody wants a starship these days
This trend started from the Chinese government. In November 2024 the government announced a significant change in the design of its super-heavy lift rocket, the Long March 9. Instead of the previous design, a completely expendable rocket with three stages and solid rocket boosters on the sides, the country’s state-owned rocket maker unveiled a vehicle that mimics SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship.
Around the same time, a Chinese launch firm called Cosmoleap announced plans to develop a fully reusable “Leap” rocket within the next few years. An animated video that accompanied the funding announcement indicates that the company wants to emulate the tower catch-with-chopsticks method that SpaceX has successfully employed.
But wait, there’s more. In June a company called Astronstone said it was also developing a stainless steel, methane-fueled rocket that would also use a chopstick-style system for first-stage recovery. AstroStone doesn’t even pretend to be copying SpaceX, saying it is “fully aligning its technological vision with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.”
<a href