China verifies Long March 10 booster splashdown and crew escape in key lunar test

by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 13, 2026
China has carried out a pivotal flight test of a prototype rocket and crew spacecraft for its planned manned lunar landing program, validating key ascent, abort, and recovery technologies needed for future missions to the Moon.

In the demonstration, a prototype of the new-generation Mengzhou crew spacecraft was mounted on a prototype first-stage booster of the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket and launched from the coastal Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province at 11 am local time. The test focused on behavior around maximum dynamic pressure, or Max-Q, when aerodynamic forces on the vehicle are at their peak.

As the booster climbed and approached Max-Q, the Mengzhou return capsule separated from the first stage and was rapidly pulled clear by an escape rocket mounted on top of the spacecraft. This sequence simulated an emergency abort under the most demanding aerodynamic conditions. Shortly afterward, at a preplanned altitude, the escape rocket detached from the capsule, which then deployed its parachutes and descended to a designated recovery zone in the South China Sea.

While the capsule followed its escape and recovery profile, the Long March 10 first-stage booster continued its ascent before its engines were temporarily shut down to allow the vehicle to coast on inertia. After crossing the Karman Line, commonly defined as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, the booster deployed grid fins and activated its reaction control system to manage attitude and prepare for controlled descent.

During the descent phase, some of the booster's engines were restarted twice to work together with the grid fins and reaction control system. This combination slowed the vehicle and maintained the desired orientation and trajectory as it returned toward the sea. In the final seconds of the maneuver, the engines shut down, allowing the large first stage to perform a controlled splashdown in a predesignated ocean area.

Near the splashdown site, a mobile recovery platform designed to support retrieval of Long March 10 reusable boosters simulated the full recovery sequence. Using real-time telemetry from the booster, the platform rehearsed tracking, approach, and notional capture operations that would be required in an operational recovery mission.

According to the China Manned Space Agency, the campaign marked the first flight test of a Long March 10 prototype, the country's first Max-Q escape test for a crewed spacecraft, and the first sea splashdown of both a manned spacecraft return capsule and a rocket first-stage booster. It also represented the first operation of the newly built heavy rocket launch tower at the Wenchang spaceport, which will support China's forthcoming lunar exploration architecture.

Program officials said the test successfully verified the first-stage ascent and recovery phases for the Long March 10 and demonstrated the Mengzhou spacecraft's Max-Q escape and sea recovery capabilities. The mission generated engineering data and operational experience that will feed directly into the design, qualification, and flight planning for China's future crewed lunar missions.