July 10 — A Long March 10B lifted off from a commercial spaceport in Hainan.
About six minutes after stage separation, a sub-stage performed a vertical
return and was recovered on an offshore platform. China said this was its first
controlled recovery of a carrier-rocket sub-stage and the world’s first
net-system recovery of a launcher. The recovery platform, named "Navigator", was
converted for the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology by Guangzhou
Shipyard International, a unit of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, in
cooperation with the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese
Academy of Sciences. It is China’s first sea platform built for rocket net
recoveries.
