Up to this point, only SpaceX and Blue Origin have been able to accomplish this feat. This means China is joining the U.S. in terms of reusable rockets at a time when it is also making strides in the race to the Moon.
The rocket test was also successful in putting a satellite into low-Earth orbit.
The Long March 10b rockets was built by a state-owned company and is an essential part of China’s plans to send a crew to China. It is also said to be part of China’s plans to put internet satellites into orbit, similar to SpaceX’s Starlink.
One interesting part of the recovery was the use of a large net on the platform. Chen Muye from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (the state-owned company) stated:
Net-based recovery simplifies the onboard structure, reduces weight and boosts payload capacity.
Maybe the US commercial space sector has a few things to learn from the Chinese.
Boeing’ Starliner costs and delays remain the target of the latest audit from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General, but remains a cheaper option for the agency than relying solely on SpaceX for its commercial crew needs. The audit releasedJune 30 dinged the beleaguered spacecraft’s tumultuous and still uncertain path toward certification and wars that the timetable for its use to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station is running short.
NASA chief Jared Isaacman took to the skies over Washington in a vintage fighter jet on July 4, even after federal regulators flagged the plan as too risky. The Federal Aviation Administration rejected a request on June 30 to let four 1970s-era Northrop F-5 Tiger II jets participate in the National Mall flyover for America’s 250th birthday, calling the aircraft “very high-risk” and citing concerns about flight controls, ejection scenarios, and past crashes, the Wall Street Journal reports.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Blue Origin has devoted significant resources to cleaning up and rebuilding its launch pad after a late-May explosion of a New Glenn rocket, as the agency weighs how the setback could affect lunar missions tied to the Artemis program.“Blue Origin’s response to the situation is almost beyond impressive, and that’s not just a NASA assessment,” Isaacman told reporters Wednesday afternoon, according to Ars Technica. He said U.S. Space Force officials also have been deeply involved in Blue Origin’s planning since the May 28 test anomaly damaged New Glenn’s only operational launch pad.
Image (Credit): The Artemis III crew members (from left: Andre Douglas, Luca Parmitano, Randy Bresnik, Frank Rubio). (NASA/Bill Stafford)
Earlier today NASA announced its new four-member crew for the next set of Artemis tests. The two week long Artemis III mission will test spacecraft in low Earth orbit in preparation for Artemis IV, which will entail an actual crewed mission to the surface of the Moon.
The new crew are three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut from Italy. NASA has a full profile of each crew member, but here are the basics:
NASA may have a crew, but does it have any partners that are really ready for a lunar landing?
To date, the only fully operational spacecraft is the Orion capsule, which will be sent aloft via the Space Launch System. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin plan to send up demonstration lunar landers that will not contain all of the necessary components for humans preparing for a Moon landing. This sounds a little dangerous given that the real reason for Artemis III is a dry-run in space. It sounds more like a dry-run for a dry-run, but NASA may not have time to complete a true test.
In additon to lunar lander delays, SpaceX is busy trying to make a fortune with its IPO, while Blue Origin is still licking its wounds after the recent explosion at Cape Canaveral.
These four astronauts may be the best news out of NASA for some time to come, so it may be best to raise a toast to the four of them and then simply hope for the best.
While most of the attention regarding the space race with China revolves around the Moon at the moment, another space race is brewing that will become a big problem for astronomers if the race is successful. This second race is one to place data centers into orbit.
We are fast-tracking ourselves towards the world of Disney’s WALL-E where we have polluted the night sky beyond recognition. Is this really necessary? Do we have other options?
Fortunately, we do, including Google’s planned data center in Texas, which will power itself from renewable energy. Another example is China’s efforts to put data centers in the ocean. Like the night sky, the ocean is a big place with a lot of possibilities if done right.
AI has already brought up enough concerns pertaining to childhood health, jobs for new graduates, and even a real armed Skynet determining its own targets. Do we really need to also surround the planet with more than a million satellites feeding into this questionable new world?
It may be time to take some of these decisions away from the stock market and ponder them for a few a little longer. Even Elon Musk was expressing such concerns in 2023. He signed a letter from the Future of Humanity Institute that stated:
Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization?Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders.
That was a smart idea then, and it makes even more sense today before we go crazy spending billions, if not trillions, or dollars on a new space race that re-energizes a questionable technology while blotting out the night sky for those who are willing to look outside of our planetary bubble to learn from the universe.
As part of the recent release of financial data related to SpaceX’s upcoming Initial Public Offering, we learned a few things about the company. Here are a few questions pertaining to that data and SpaceX operations in general.
True or False: SpaceX had a net loss in 2025.
Multiple Choice: SpaceX provides computing power to what AI company?
A. Anthropic B. CoreWeave C. Meta D. Open AI
Multiple Choice: SpaceX was responsible for what percent of global rocket launches in 2025?
A. 36 percent B. 51 percent C. 60 percent D. 85 percent
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