Sea based rocket net recovery platform enters service for Chinese reusable launchers

China has taken delivery of its first sea based platform designed to recover rockets using a net system, adding a key element to national plans for reusable launch vehicles.

The vessel, named Linghangzhe or Pathfinder, has been certified by the China Classification Society, becoming the first sea based rocket recovery platform in the country to receive the required class and statutory approvals.

Linghangzhe follows the August deployment of Chinese commercial rocket company i Space's landing vessel Xingjiguihang, or Stellar Return, which carries a recovery deck combining 40 meter and 60 meter sections. The ship is intended to retrieve the first stage of i Space's reusable liquid oxygen methane rocket SQX

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