SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket – collectively known as Starship – represent a fully reusable space transportation system designed to transport both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. As the most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, Starship can carry up to 150 metric tons in a fully reusable configuration and 250 metric tons in a consumable configuration.

While Starship has attracted a lot of attention, leading many to speculate that the United States – primarily through SpaceX – is alone in developing a super-heavy rocket aimed at reducing launch costs and enabling missions to Mars, SpaceX could soon face competition from China, which is also developing a super-heavy and reusable rocket: the Long March 9.

Originally designed as an expendable vehicle, the Long March 9 has undergone a major overhaul since its inception around 2016 and is now being developed as a reusable rocket. This change was officially announced by China on April 24, during the National Spaceflight Day celebrations.

The development of the heavy rocket is part of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), with reusable rockets being a key focus of the 2021 White Paper on the country’s space activities. The first launch of the basic three-stage design of the Long March 9 is planned for 2030, while the two-stage reusable version is expected to launch in 2040.

Standing 114 meters tall, Long March 9 is designed to carry at least 150 tonnes into low Earth orbit (LEO) in any of its planned configurations. It will feature a two-stage design, with the first stage powered by 30 YF-215 engines using liquid oxygen and liquid methane – propellants similar to those used by SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket, which has 33 Raptor engines using the same propellants.

Like SpaceX’s Starship, China’s Long March 9 aims to significantly reduce launch costs. While the Long March 5, which can carry 25 tons to LEO, costs around $3,000 per kilogram to LEO, the Long March 9 is expected to reduce that to around $1,500 per kilogram, matching SpaceX’s estimates for Starship .

SpaceX’s Starship has already completed five test flights, with a sixth planned for November. The company aims to have Starship operational by September 2025 to support NASA’s Artemis 3 mission to the Moon.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said ‘building a new world on Mars is now possible’ after Starship, the world’s largest and most powerful rocket, surpassed the capabilities of NASA’s Saturn V Moon rocket .

Measuring 122 meters tall, Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built. The stainless steel vehicle consists of two fully reusable stages: a massive booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50-meter) upper stage known as Starship, or simply Ship. Both stages are powered by SpaceX’s next-generation Raptor engines – 33 on Super Heavy and six on Ship.

“Most importantly, Starship is designed to be fully reusable, using a low-cost propellant: 80% liquid oxygen and 20% liquid methane,” Musk said in an article on ton of orbiting by approximately 10,000%. than that of the Saturn V.”

China’s ambitions with Long March 9 are clear: establish a permanent presence on the Moon, build infrastructure in stable gravitational zones like the Earth-Moon and Earth-Sun Lagrange points, and develop solar-powered space satellites. thanks to in-orbit assembly. and manufacturing. Ultimately, China aims to create a low-cost, end-to-end space logistics system capable of supporting long-term space exploration and development.