China completed its first maritime recovery of a rocket booster on Friday. This is the world's first successful booster recovery using a net-based capture system, and marks a new milestone in the country's development of reusable launch technology.

The reusable first-stage booster of the Long March-10B carrier rocket was successfully recovered upright by a cable-and-net system aboard a specially designed vessel in waters off Hainan.

The recovery took place about six minutes after the rocket lifted off on its maiden flight from the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province at 12:15 p.m. (0415 GMT), according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the state-owned company responsible for the mission. The rocket successfully placed a satellite into its designated orbit.