The Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket made an appearance at a major airshow recently—and looks awfully familiar.

China recently unveiled a new concept design for its heavy-lift rocket, which appears to have been directly inspired by SpaceX's Starship.

While Starship has garnered significant attention, leading many to assume that the United States — primarily through SpaceX — stands alone in developing a super-heavy rocket aimed at reducing launch costs and enabling missions to Mars,

China ’s space agency has unveiled an updated design of its first super-heavy reusable rocket which looks eerily similar to SpaceX ’s Starship launch vehicle. New images of the rocket, released at a major airshow in Zhuhai, China, indicate that the plan for the country’s Long March 9 rocket is a departure from the original design.

SpaceX will attempt to transfer propellant from one orbiting Starship to another as early as next March, a technical milestone that will pave the way for

(LEFT) SpaceX launched its fourth Starship test flight from the company’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, in June 2024; (RIGHT) China’s Long March 9 modified rocket design recently unveiled at Zhuhai. Credit: SpaceX.