The Chinese rocket Long March 12A had a partially successful inaugural flight, with the second stage being placed in orbit, but the first stage was not recovered.

The inaugural flight of the Chinese reusable rocket Long March 12A took place on Tuesday, but the first stage of the rocket was not successfully recovered, according to its developer, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). Despite this incident, the second stage managed to reach the planned orbit. Details about the cause of the recovery failure have not been provided, but CASC announced that it is conducting further analyses.

China has launched numerous rockets in recent years, but has failed to finalize the testing of a reusable rocket, essential for reducing launch costs. Competition with SpaceX, which has dominated this field, has prompted China to accelerate the development of reusable rockets. Additionally, the private company Landspace has entered the race for reusable rockets, trying to become China's main competitor to SpaceX. CASC, the main contractor for the Chinese space program, has over 100,000 employees, while Landspace operates as a start-up with fewer than 2,000 employees.