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.

China ’s space agency has unveiled an updated design of its first super-heavy reusable rocket which looks eerily similar to SpaceX ’s Starship launch vehicle. New images of the rocket, released at a major airshow in Zhuhai, China, indicate that the plan for the country’s Long March 9 rocket is a departure from the original design.

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 ...

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

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

China recently showed off a concept for its upcoming Long March 9, a ultra heavy-lift, reusable rocket meant to

(LEFT) SpaceX launched its fourth Starship test flight from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, in June 2024; (RIGHT) China’s Long March 9 modified rocket design recently unveiled at Zhuhai. Credit: SpaceX.