Since then, China has been revising the design of this rocket, named Long March 9, in response to the development of reusable rockets by SpaceX. As of two years ago, China had recalibrated the design to have a reusable first stage. Now, based on ...

China recently unveiled a new concept design for its heavy-lift rocket, which appears to have been directly inspired by SpaceX's Starship.

The startup, Cosmoleap, also aims to build a rocket larger than Starship, the world's most powerful launch system.

After nearly a decade of development, China’s Long March 9 rocket has undergone yet another redesign, and this time, it looks strikingly familiar — like a clone of SpaceX’s Starship. You might say it’s the space race’s latest case of déjà vu.

When Chinese space officials unveiled the design for the country's first super heavy lift rocket nearly a decade ago, it looked like a fairly conventional booster. The rocket was fully expendable, with three stages and solid motors strapped onto its sides.