A Chinese launch startup sent a small rocket test stage up to an altitude of one kilometer before a performing a powered descent and vertical landing.
Deep Blue Aerospace, founded in 2017, conducted the test May 6 with the Nebula M1 test article , landing within less than half a meter of the landing pad center.
The test is a milestone in the development of the full Nebula-1 rocket with a recoverable first stage, and indicative of progress and efforts by Chinese launch startups to develop reusable launchers.
The Nebula M1 is powered by an electric-pump-fed kerosene-liquid oxygen engine. The landing in the video is obscured by dust thrown up by the thrust, but the company claims the test was successful.
Deep Blue Aerospace claims the vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) reached the highest altitude for such a test conducted in China, while also reaching the greatest speed and longest flight time.
The Nebula-M was used in two earlier, successful tests to altitudes of around 10 and 100 meters. New tests—to altitudes of 10 and 100 kilometers—will be conducted using a new test stage on the same scale as the full scale Nebula-1 rocket.
The first orbital launch and recovery of the Nebula-1 is planned for before the end of 2024.
