China unveiled plans for a fully reusable Long March 9 rocket configuration Sunday at its 2023 Space Day ceremony in Hefei, China. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) aims to begin testing the vehicle, which looks a lot like SpaceX’s Starship, by the late 2030s.

The fully reusable configuration is noteworthy, given that China has yet to nail a partially reusable launch, an achievement SpaceX accomplished in 2014.

PIVOT

China is building the Long March 9, a three-stage super heavy-lift rocket, to support lunar and deep-space missions. When China first began developing the rocket in 2016, the initial plan was to make it fully expendable. Then, in 2022, China pivoted from an expendable rocket to a reusable first-stage design.

The partially reusable Long March 9 is expected to launch in the early 2030s. The CNSA will begin testing the two-stage fully reusable rocket configuration shortly after that.

Long March 9 rocket family profile:

• 375 feet tall
• 6100T of takeoff thrust
• Capable of carrying 150T to low Earth orbit

BIG SPENDER

More broadly, China is ramping up investment in its space and lunar programs. China unveiled concept designs for a lunar lander this year and moved up its first crewed moon landing to 2030.

10-YEAR HEAD-START

While blueprints for a super heavy-lift vehicle have been flowing out of the CNSA, actual development of the rocket has barely made it off the drawing board. Meanwhile, the U.S. has achieved heavy-lift capability with its SLS rocket; and more recently, it has taken steps toward a fully reusable rocket with SpaceX’s launch of Starship.

Based on Long March 9 timelines, China is more than a decade behind the U.S. in heavy-lift and reusable rockets.

• China also announced plans to build a billion-watt power station in orbit at its Space Day, from the Global Times.

This story originally appeared on Payload and is republished here with permission.