China used a giant net to land a reusable rocket. Does the idea have legs?

China’s successful recovery of a reusable rocket has sparked debate among aerospace experts over whether its unconventional approach could actually cut the cost of reaching space. On Friday, the country’s Long March-10B became the first orbital-class rocket outside the United States to return to Earth and be recovered intact. The rocket’s first-stage booster deployed four hooks as it descended and was then caught by a giant net on a ship waiting in the South China Sea. SpaceX and Blue Origin do…

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