en.Wedoany.com Reported - At 12:15 on July 10, the Long March 10B carrier rocket was launched from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site, successfully sending a satellite into its intended orbit. Approximately six minutes after the first and second stages separated, the first stage vertically returned and was successfully recovered via a net capture system on a maritime recovery platform, marking the complete success of the launch and first-stage recovery mission. This mission is China's first successful implementation of controlled recovery of a carrier rocket's first stage, and also the world's first net-based recovery of a carrier rocket, signifying a historic breakthrough in China's reusable rocket technology. It will lay a solid foundation for accelerating the enhancement of China's space access capabilities.
The "Pioneer" vessel used in this rocket recovery mission is China's first rocket net recovery maritime platform, converted by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited, in collaboration with the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The platform's feasibility study began in September 2024, the design plan was completed in December 2024, construction started in April 2025, and it was named and delivered in December 2025. During the conversion process, the project team overcame multiple challenges, including highly complex technical integration, harsh summer dock working conditions, and extremely tight construction schedules, successfully breaking through a series of key technical difficulties.
The "Pioneer" is 144 meters long, 50 meters wide (overall), with a draft of 5.5 meters and a full load displacement of 25,000 tons, equipped with DP 2 dynamic positioning capability.
According to reports, the design and construction of the "Pioneer" overcame numerous difficulties: due to the need for high coordination between the platform's position and attitude during rocket landing, indicators such as roll, pitch, and yaw, which are often less emphasized in ordinary ship design, are crucial for the "Pioneer" and must meet higher standards. The positioning accuracy of the platform's dynamic positioning system also needs to meet requirements under various wave directions. Ordinary ships only need to verify positioning capability in head seas (heading angle of 180 degrees), but this platform must consider positioning accuracy at angles of 60 degrees or even 90 degrees. In terms of hull structural design, ordinary ships typically consider uniform load distribution on the deck, but the net recovery maritime platform is fixed to the deck via four large support bases, resulting in highly concentrated loads, posing significant challenges to hull structural design. Additionally, the net recovery system is a tall truss structure with large mass and a high center of gravity, greatly complicating ship stability design. This required load analysis, wind tunnel experiments, and overall floating platform design under various sea conditions from the initial design stage.
During the construction and installation of the net recovery system on the "Pioneer," South China Marine Machinery Co., Ltd., under China State Shipbuilding Corporation, provided project coordination and support services. The project team fully leveraged and applied experience in large equipment assembly and project management capabilities, effectively and orderly coordinating core production resources across the entire chain, responding swiftly and collaborating efficiently. They proactively dispatched personnel unconditionally and around the clock to support the welding fixtures for the D-legs, meticulously implemented safety and confidentiality supervision, and fully achieved the "zero accident" target, ensuring the successful completion of the net recovery system project.
When the Long March 10B carrier rocket was securely caught by the "Pioneer," He Guangwei, the chief designer of the "Pioneer" and deputy chief engineer of Guangzhou Shipyard International, could hardly contain his excitement: "Our recovery vessel is as steady as Mount Tai!"
