China Positions Methalox Long March 10C as Its Commercial Rocket Workhorse After First Booster Recovery
Featured image: [Long March 10B launching from Wenchang on its debut flight, July 10, 2026; credit: CASC]
Three days after recovering its first orbital-class rocket booster at sea, China has laid out its commercial launch strategy: the all-methalox Long March 10C will serve as the country’s primary commercial workhorse, backed by a modular design philosophy and a growing launch infrastructure on Hainan Island.
On July 10, the Long March 10B aced its maiden flight from Wenchang, delivering a satellite to orbit and recovering its first stage using a net-capture system aboard the autonomous recovery ship Linghang Zhe (“Navigator”). It was China’s first successful orbital-class booster recovery, making the country only the second after the United States to achieve the feat.
The Long March 10 Family
The Long March 10 series is built around what CALT (China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology) calls “one diameter, two types of engines, and three modules,” referring to the 5.0-meter common diameter, the kerolox YF-100 and methalox YF-219 engine families, and three rocket variants:
- Long March 10A: Kerosene/LOX both stages, designed to launch the Mengzhou crew spacecraft for human spaceflight missions. First crewed test flight possible later this year.
- Long March 10B: Kerolox first stage with a methalox second stage. The variant that debuted on July 10. Can deliver 16,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit in reusable mode.
- Long March 10C: All-methalox (both stages), positioned as the commercial workhorse. Expected capacity exceeding 25,000 kilograms to LEO, surpassing the Long March 5B.
The YF-219 methalox engine made its first flight (in vacuum-optimized form) on the July 10 Long March 10B second stage, serving double duty as a test for both the human-rated 10A and the commercial 10C.
The Recovery Milestone
The July 10 booster recovery was a world first in its method. Rather than propulsively landing on a drone ship like SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the Long March 10B first stage used grid fins for atmospheric re-entry, then was caught by a net-and-cable system on the Linghang Zhe. CASC plans to re-fly the recovered booster by the end of 2026.
“The Long March 10B will reuse the first stages from Long March 10A flights,” Yang Yuguang, chair of the Space Transportation Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, told Chinese state media. “The 10B, with its methalox second stage, will be used for commercial missions, while also serving the role of accumulating flight data for the Long March 10A first stage and further improving its reliability.”
Commercial Infrastructure
CALT is working with Hainan Commercial Launch (HICAL) on pads 3 and 4 at the Hainan commercial spaceport. Both pads are expected to be launch-capable by the end of 2026, easing what has been a significant launch infrastructure bottleneck.
“The Long March 10C is under intensive development and will strongly promote the industrialization of China’s space transportation industry in the future,” said Qian Hang, a CALT researcher. “The modularization will significantly improve the efficiency of future rocket manufacturing, assembly, testing, and launch.”
The 10C’s all-methalox first stage will be larger and more powerful than the 10A/B kerolox stage, likely requiring a larger recovery vessel or a different recovery approach.
The Broader Picture
China now has two major state-owned lineages developing reusable medium-lift launch vehicles. CALT runs the Long March 10 series and the commercial Jielong solid rocket line. SAST (Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology) is developing the methalox Long March 12A and has its own commercial subsidiary, China Commercial Rocket Co., which recently completed a recapitalization from 1.396 billion yuan to 4.172 billion yuan (approximately $616 million), with SAST vastly increasing its investment.
Meanwhile, private Chinese companies continue their own development. Landspace’s methalox Zhuque-3 is expected to conduct its second flight in August 2026. CASC is also developing 7-meter-diameter rockets as an intermediate step toward the super-heavy Long March 9.