--- title: Launching Rockets Is Hard, Bring Them Back Is Harder description: A historical overview of rocket recovery methods, tracing the evolution from disposable boosters to modern reusable systems. Covers why splashdown recovery... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/launching-rockets-is-hard-bring-them-back-is-harder-tbnus14pj twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Launching Rockets Is Hard, Bring Them Back Is Harder | daily.dev og:description: A historical overview of rocket recovery methods, tracing the evolution from disposable boosters to modern reusable systems. Covers why splashdown recovery... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/launching-rockets-is-hard-bring-them-back-is-harder-tbnus14pj og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/tbNuS14PJ.png og:image:alt: Launching Rockets Is Hard, Bring Them Back Is Harder og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Launching Rockets Is Hard, Bring Them Back Is Harder **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A historical overview of rocket recovery methods, tracing the evolution from disposable boosters to modern reusable systems. Covers why splashdown recovery (used for Space Shuttle SRBs) is impractical for liquid-fueled rockets, how SpaceX's propulsive landing with deployable legs works and its payload penalties (roughly 25% reduction for Falcon 9), and why China's net-catch approach for the Long March 10B is an interesting alternative that eliminates landing leg mass. Also touches on SpaceX's Starship mechazilla catch arms. The core argument is that the key innovation in reusability is not how rockets ascend but how they return, and the industry is now competing on the efficiency of that recovery method. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [China nets a falling rocket in reusability race with SpaceX](https://daily.dev/posts/china-nets-a-falling-rocket-in-reusability-race-with-spacex-ajzzhl7fv) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [China lands a reusable rocket booster for the first time](https://daily.dev/posts/china-lands-a-reusable-rocket-booster-for-the-first-time-svcvftedq) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [China is catching up to Elon Musk's reusable rockets](https://daily.dev/posts/china-is-catching-up-to-elon-musk-s-reusable-rockets-qjdolx8hm) · TechCrunch · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [China just carried out its second reusable launch attempt in three weeks](https://daily.dev/posts/china-just-carried-out-its-second-reusable-launch-attempt-in-three-weeks-mardl7557) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#spacex](https://daily.dev/tags/spacex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/launching-rockets-is-hard-bring-them-back-is-harder-tbnus14pj) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Launching Rockets Is Hard, Bring Them Back Is Harder","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/launching-rockets-is-hard-bring-them-back-is-harder-tbnus14pj","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/launching-rockets-is-hard-bring-them-back-is-harder-tbnus14pj"},"datePublished":"2026-07-20T14:04:27.188Z","dateModified":"2026-07-20T14:04:51.342Z","description":"A historical overview of rocket recovery methods, tracing the evolution from disposable boosters to modern reusable systems. 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