China achieved its first recovery of a rocket's first stage on land after launching and recovering part of the reusable rocket Zhuque-3 on Wednesday morning.
The Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket blasted off at 07:35 (Beijing Time) from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China.
The land-based recovery of the rocket's first stage was completed as planned, and the flight mission was a complete success.
This mission followed the successful sea-based net recovery of the Long March-10B's first stage on July 10.
It marked China's first successful land-based controlled recovery of a rocket's first stage using deployable landing legs, highlighting a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology.
China launches Zhuque-3, achieving first rocket recovery on land
The United Nations expressed deep concern on Tuesday over reports of Houthi attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia, warning that such strikes risk further entangling Yemen in the wider regional conflicts.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman of the United Nations secretary-general, made the statement in a media briefing, calling all parties concerned to respect their own obligations and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.
"Such attacks risk further entangling Yemen in the wider regional confrontation, at a time when, as we all know, the region is already facing intense pressure and regional trade and energy flows are already under severe strain. Attacks and threats against shipping must also stop and freedom of navigation in both the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden must be upheld. We again call on parties to respect their obligations to protect civilians, to protect civilian infrastructure," said Dujarric.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
A UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022 expired six months later without a formal extension, but a fragile de facto ceasefire has largely held until the recent escalation.
The Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping last month and has since claimed attacks on Saudi tankers.
UN warns Houthi attacks risk widening regional conflict
