SpaceX’s Starship — a fully reusable launch system topping 400 feet — has inspired Chinese state and private concepts that echo its design and recovery ideas. Notable projects include Beijing Leading Rocket Technology’s Xingzhou‑1 rendering and government plans for a reusable Long March 9 variant. While the concepts are visually similar, Chinese efforts remain behind SpaceX in testing and flight experience. SpaceX’s own next prototype, V3, is targeted for 2026 and faces programmatic scrutiny tied to NASA’s Artemis lunar plans.
SpaceX’s Starship Inspires Chinese Lookalikes as Reusable-Rocket Race Heats Up
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX’s Starship — an ambitious, fully reusable launch system designed to carry crew and cargo to the moon, Mars and beyond — has spurred a wave of Starship-style concepts from Chinese state and private groups. While some of these designs are early-stage renderings rather than flight-ready hardware, they reflect an accelerating global interest in very large, reusable launchers and recovery techniques such as tower-catching.
What Starship Is
Starship is a two-stage system that, when fully stacked, exceeds 400 feet in height and is among the largest rockets ever conceived. An earlier configuration commonly described as Version 2 combined a roughly 232-foot Super Heavy booster with a 171-foot upper-stage Starship spacecraft. SpaceX is developing the system to be fully reusable so both stages can return for rapid reflight — a capability intended to dramatically lower the cost of access to space.
Starship’s Role In Artemis And Deep-Space Ambitions
NASA has selected Starship’s upper stage as a contender to serve as a lunar lander for the Artemis program, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has publicly stated ambitions to use Starship for human missions to Mars. Achieving orbital refueling and reliable reuse are critical technical milestones for those plans.
Chinese Projects Echo Starship’s Design
For years, Chinese developers have drawn technical inspiration from SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Recently, media coverage and company announcements indicate the trend is extending toward Starship-scale concepts.
In December 2025, state-operated China.com published a rendering from Beijing Leading Rocket Technology for a concept called Xingzhou‑1 (literally “Starship‑1”), described as a fully reusable vehicle and resembling SpaceX’s design ethos. Independent China-space reporter Andrew Jones noted the project appears to be at a conceptual stage and that a 2027 debut would be highly ambitious.
Other Chinese Efforts And The Tower-Catch Idea
China’s government program has also signaled interest in large reusable rockets. In November 2024, China unveiled a Long March 9 configuration with at least one version intended to be reusable. Analysts expect a Long March 9 maiden flight many years out — studies and development timelines suggest the early 2030s at the earliest.
Several private Chinese startups have publicized Starship-like approaches: Cosmoleap announced plans to pursue a fully reusable launcher with a tower-catch recovery concept, and Astronstone openly said it was aligning its technical approach with SpaceX — even proposing a launch tower with "chopstick" arms to catch a returning booster.
How Close Are These Projects?
Despite bold renderings and ambitious timelines, most Chinese efforts are several steps behind SpaceX in hardware testing and flight experience. The Long March 9’s reusable variant is not expected to fly for years, and private firms face major engineering, testing and regulatory challenges before achieving operational reliability at Starship scale.
Where Starship Development Stands
SpaceX has encountered its own development challenges: through eleven flight tests to date the Starship system had not yet completed a fully successful orbital flight and safe return of the full stack, though Super Heavy boosters have been recovered on multiple occasions. SpaceX has said a next prototype, often called Version 3 (V3), is targeted to debut in 2026 and could be the model to attempt orbital flight and demonstrate in-space refueling — a necessary capability for deep-space missions.
Programmatic And Policy Pressures
Schedule and program risks have drawn scrutiny from NASA and other stakeholders. In October, then-acting NASA leadership indicated the agency would consider proposals beyond SpaceX for lunar lander work amid concerns about schedule readiness for Artemis 3. Leadership and procurement decisions continue to evolve, and any changes could affect timelines for lunar missions.
By Eric Lagatta, Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. This article is adapted from reporting that originally appeared on USA TODAY: "Startups In China Appear To Be Working On Clones Of SpaceX Starship."
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft is hoisted Oct. 11, 2025 along the launch tower for stacking atop the Super Heavy booster in preparation for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft is hoisted Oct. 11, 2025 along the launch tower for stacking atop the Super Heavy booster in preparation for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
SpaceX’s 11th Starship test flight lights up the skies over Brevard as seen from the Kennedy Space Center October 13, 2025. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
SpaceX’s 11th Starship test flight lights up the skies over Brevard as seen from the Kennedy Space Center October 13, 2025. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
SpaceX's Starship rocket launches Oct. 13 during the 11th test flight, as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, renamed by the U.S. government as the Gulf of America, after launching the SpaceX Starship spacecraft October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off October 13, 2025 on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas.
Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander captures its shadow on the moon's surface after completing a successful landing March 2 near a volcanic feature on the moon called Mons Latreille. The vehicle became the first of two landers manufactured by a U.S. company to reach the moon is 2025 in crucial missions to lay the groundwork for NASA to return humans to the lunar surface in the years ahead.
Athena, the lunar lander on Intuitive Machines' IM-2 mission, captured this image of the moon's surface with Earth seen in the distance ahead of a March 6 landing attempt. While the lander was the second U.S. vehicle to reach the moon within a week, it ultimately landed on its side, which hindered much of its mission.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams is helped out of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft March 18 following a return to Earth after a nine-month stay at the International Space Station. She and NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore crewed the Boeing Starliner, which had launched in June 2024 on a failed test flight that was meant to return them to Earth a few days later.
Butch Wilmore reacts after he and Suni Williams and two other astronauts splashed down March 18 in a Crew Dragon space capsule following their return to earth from the International Space Station off the coast of Florida. The astronauts' extended stay at the orbital outpost dominated the news cycle for months.
A SpaceX support team member is seen airborne while working to lift the SpaceX Dragon capsule that returned the Starliner astronauts and two others onto a recovery vehicle following its landing off the coast of Florida.
This picture shows the crew of a privately-funded mission known as Fram2, from left to right, mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips, mission commander Chun Wang, pilot Rabea Rogge and vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen on March 19, 2025 in Hawthorne, California. Launched March 31 from Florida using a SpaceX Dragon capsule, the mission became t first ever human spaceflight over the Earth's polar regions.
Pop musician Katy Perry emerges April 14 from Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule in West Texas following a brief flight to the edge of space. Perry was part of an all-women crew that also included broadcast journalist Gayle King that took the ride from Blue Origin's facility called Launch Site One. The high-profile launch attracted plenty of headlines and even drew some backlash from those who viewed the mission as a wasteful publicity stunt.
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket carrying astronauts Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Kerianne Flynn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, and Lauren Sanchez lifts off April 14 from Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas. Blue Origin has since launched five more human spaceflights on the New Shepard in 2025.
This photo depicts a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the latest batch of Amazon's broadband satellites on Dec. 16 to low-Earth orbit after launching from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Formerly called Project Kuiper, the venture has since been renamed Amazon Leo. Since its debut April launch, Amazon Leo has deployed 180 of 3,000 satellites planned for its first constellation, which could challenge SpaceX's Starlink.
A group of Blue Origin employees with their friends and families gather on the beach in Cape Canaveral for the launch of Blue Origin's second New Glenn rocket in 2025. Following its January debut, the rocket launched for the second time Nov. 13 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on their trek to Mars.
Darkness falls Nov. 9 as a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepped for its second-ever launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Blue Origin is developing the towering rocket for heavy-lift missions that could see Jeff Bezos' company compete with Elon Musk and SpaceX.
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft sits Oct. 12, 2025 atop the Super Heavy booster before sunrise as preparations continue for its 11th test flight from the company's complex in Starbase, Texas.
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