LinkSpace's reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, returns to the landing site during a test launch on a vacant plot of land near the company's development site in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. During initial tests of their 8.1-metre tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China's youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case. But when the Beijing-based company's prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed. The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 metres above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers - one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight. LinkSpace, one of China's 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices. Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilogrammes and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China's rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)





Women talk in a stall that sells Christmas products at the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





A vendor works on a wig at the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, May 9, 2019. (Photo by /Reuters)





A staff member stands in a stall that sells clocks at the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





A staff member sits in a stall selling plastic turf at the Yiwu Wholesale Market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)





Cooks prepare for lunch near space rocket models and an animated display of the ancient Silk Road at the Second Belt and Road Forum In Beijing on Friday, April 26, 2019. President Xi Jinping has promised to set high standards for China's Belt and Road infrastructure-building initiative, seeking to dispel complaints the many billion dollars in projects leave developing countries with too much debt. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)





Tourists take photographs from a lookout on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, China, 01 April 2019. Hong Kong is experiencing the northeast monsoon which is bringing cloudy weather with rain patches and fresh easterly winds. (Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA/EFE)





Consumers past by a U.S. fashion apparel store in Beijing Monday, May 6, 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump raised pressure on China on Sunday, threatening to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods in a tweet that sent financial markets swooning. Trump's comments, delivered on Twitter, came as a Chinese delegation was scheduled to resume talks in Washington on Wednesday aimed at resolving a trade war that has shaken investors and cast gloom over the world economy. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)





A brain surgery patient walks down the main corridor of Ruijin Hospital's functional neurosurgery center in Shanghai, China on Monday, Oct. 29, 2018. Doctors at Ruijin are experimenting with brain surgery to treat a range of psychiatric conditions, including anorexia, Tourette syndrome and addiction. (Photo by Erika Kinetz/AP Photo)





In this March 26, 2019 photo, staff members chat at the check-in counter of Cathay Pacific Airways at the Hong Kong International Airport. Cathay Pacific Airways is acquiring Hong Kong-based budget airline HK Express. Cathay said Wednesday, March 27, 2019, it will pay 4.93 billion Hong Kong dollars ($628 million) for HK Express. It said the acquisition will retain its identity as a separate brand and be operated as a low-cost carrier. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)





Models prepare backstage for Chinese designer Hu Sheguang's fashion show during the China Fashion Week in Beijing, China, 25 March 2019. China Fashion Week runs from 25 to 31 March 2019. (Photo by How Hwee Young/EPA/EFE)





A farmer dries dendrobium nobile flowers, a type of orchid, in the village of Pingtan, southwest China on May 5, 2019. The plants are used in traditional Chinese medicine. (Photo by Wang Changyu/Alamy Live News)





This photo taken on May 5, 2019 shows a farmer sorting roses used to make essential oils at a rose plantation in Haian in China's eastern Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





A Huawei employee watches a program on his smartphone as he rests in his cubicle in the research and development area after lunch at the Bantian campus on April 12, 2019 in Shenzhen, China. Huawei is Chinas most valuable technology brand, and sells more telecommunications equipment than any other company in the world, with annual revenue topping $100 billion U.S. Headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, considered Chinas Silicon Valley, Huawei has more than 180,000 employees worldwide, with nearly half of them engaged in research and development. In 2018, the company overtook Apple Inc. as the second largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world behind Samsung Electronics, a milestone that has made Huawei a source of national pride in China. While commercially successful and a dominant player in 5G, or fifth-generation networking technology, Huawei has faced political headwinds and allegations that its equipment includes so-called backdoors that the U.S. government perceives as a national security. U.S. authorities are also seeking the extradition of Huaweis Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, to stand trial in the U.S. on fraud charges. Meng is currently under house arrest in Canada, though Huawei maintains the U.S. case against her is purely political. Despite the U.S. campaign against the company, Huawei is determined to lead the global charge toward adopting 5G wireless networks. It has hired experts from foreign rivals, and invested heavily in R&D to patent key technologies to boost Chinese influence. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)





Huawei employees ride the bus home at the end of the workday from the company's Bantian campus on April 26, 2019 in Shenzhen, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)





Young model prepares backstage before the Feng Sansan Collection show at China Fashion Week A/W 2019/2020 on March 26, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)





Men play Chinese chess near the Houhai lake in Beijing, China, 10 April 2019. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/EPA/EFE)





Fishermen in Xiapu, China on May 1, 2019. (Photo by Costfoto/Barcroft Images)





Aerial view of tourist guides holding smiley face greeting card to welcome the World Smile Day at the Slender West Lake on May 8, 2019 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. (Photo by Meng Delong/VCG via Getty Images)





Visitors take cover from water splashed by a killer whale during a performance show at Haichang Ocean Park in Shanghai, China, Monday, April 15, 2019. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)





Sun Rongchun, 57, exercises with an improvised cervical traction device attached to a high bar at a sports complex in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China on April 9, 2019. (Photo by Sheng Li/Reuters)