Rare! This time, German media no longer says we are copying — they actually acknowledge it! On August 19, after China's private aerospace company "LandSpace" successfully achieved recovery, Deutsche Welle immediately reported the news. The German media stated that LandSpace has become the third private enterprise globally to successfully recover an orbital rocket booster, demonstrating how China is narrowing the gap with the United States in the field of reusable rockets.
The German media noted that China has repeatedly attempted to recover orbital rocket boosters recently. Last December, LandSpace became the first Chinese company to test a reusable rocket, but failed to achieve recovery. This successful recovery greatly boosts investor confidence in LandSpace, which has set a goal for its "Zhuque-3" rocket to be reused up to 20 times. Clearly, from this report by German media, it’s rare for them to avoid any negative coverage.
Previously, many Western voices, upon witnessing breakthroughs in Chinese aerospace technology, habitually labeled such achievements as imitations or plagiarism, viewing China’s progress in commercial spaceflight through biased lenses. However, this time, Deutsche Welle’s report objectively recognizes LandSpace’s technological accomplishments and acknowledges China’s growing momentum in the liquid oxygen-methane reusable rocket sector. What does this indicate? It shows that after China has now successfully achieved recovery in two different ways consecutively, Western media can no longer ignore China’s technological advancement.
Globally, only two private companies — SpaceX and Blue Origin in the United States — currently possess orbital rocket recovery technology. LandSpace’s success marks the official entry of Chinese enterprises into this elite club. Since the first stage of a rocket accounts for the vast majority of manufacturing costs, achieving multiple reuses can significantly reduce launch prices. Clearly, the era of stars and oceans for China’s aerospace industry is fully unfolding, becoming ever more anticipated and remarkable.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1873926231424075/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.