Why China’s reusable rocket breakthrough matters for the PLA’s ‘kill chain’

A pair of landmark rocket recoveries in recent weeks has brought China a step closer to mastering reusable launch technology – a breakthrough analysts said could give the People’s Liberation Army an advantage in combat by increasing the resilience of its satellite-supported “kill chain”, the process of identifying, tracking and engaging a target.In a first for China, commercial rocket company LandSpace recovered a stainless-steel booster using deployable legs after an orbital flight earlier this week. This followed a successful launch last month by state-owned China-aerospace-science-and-technology-corporation" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="151125" data-entity-type="organization">China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), which achieved the world’s first recovery of an orbital-class booster at sea using a net-capture system.Defence experts said the technology would dramatically lower the cost of putting satellites into space and increase the frequency of launches. Mastering reusability will improve the PLA’s space capabilities – including communication, navigation and surveillance – much like how SpaceX supports the US military.