Six minutes after separating from its upper stage, China’s Long March 10B descended toward a recovery ship and caught four steel cables with hooks near the top of the booster. The maiden flight worked.

China’s sprawling state-owned rocket developer, maker of the country’s Long March rocket family, announced it recovered a reusable orbital-class booster for the first time Friday in the South China Sea.

China made a breakthrough in its space program with the successful capture of a Long March 10B rocket booster.

China successfully launched the Long March-10B carrier rocket at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in South China's Hainan province on Friday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] China's first rocket recovery ship,