"That hasn't dissuaded a growing number of Chinese companies from unabashedly ripping off the concept, as Ars Technica reports. Most recently, state-operated news outlet China.com detailed acompany called "Beijing Leading Rocket Technology" that named its latest vehicle concept Xingzhou-1 - which translates to "Starship-1" or "Starvessel-1." A render of the rocket closely resembles SpaceX's design as well, from the overall proportions down to the grid fins designed to guide the Super Heavy booster and Starship spacecraft back down to the ground."
"Several other Chinese startups have similarly proposed rocket designs that rip off SpaceX's Starship, from Cosmoleap, which painstakingly recreated the concept down to a render of a Super Heavy booster-like rocket being caught by a launch tower by two extremely familiar-looking "chopstick" arms. A separate firm, called Astronstone, also said it was looking to recreate the concept, "fully aligning its technical approach with Elon Musk's SpaceX," albeit at a smaller scale."
Falcon 9 established a fully reusable launch platform that greatly reduced launch costs for payloads and crew. Starship remains in development as a super heavy-lift rocket and booster duo and has experienced more than a dozen major explosions without yet completing a safe launch-and-return. Multiple Chinese companies have produced concepts closely imitating Starship's design. A company named "Beijing Leading Rocket Technology" unveiled a Xingzhou-1 concept translating to "Starship-1"/"Starvessel-1" with renders showing similar proportions and grid fins. Startups such as Cosmoleap and Astronstone recreated Starship-like designs, including renders of a Super Heavy booster being caught by tower "chopstick" arms. National designs also mirror a two-stage fully reusable configuration.
Read at Futurism
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