China has another sea launch under its belt. One of the country's Jielong-3 rockets (also known as Smart Dragon-3) lifted off from a floating platform off the coast of eastern China on Monday (Sept.

The Sea Dragon, a declassified 1960s project, was a massive 500-foot-tall rocket designed to launch from the ocean, carrying huge payloads into space at a fraction of the cost.

The fourth Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) lifted off at 10:31 p.m. Eastern ... while offering the flexibility of sea launches. The first launch, in 2019, involved a Long March 11 solid rocket.

Orbital launches worldwide have more than doubled ... began pursuing a spectacular vision: the Sea Dragon. Standing nearly 500 feet tall, it would have been by far the biggest rocket in history ...

By now, China has performed 15 sea-based launches, using four types of rockets: Long March 11, Smart Dragon 3, Ceres 1 and Gravity 1. This was the second space mission by China in 2025.