They launched <i>China's</i> largest reusable rocket. 8m tall, less than a meter wide from the images and it reached a height of just 300 <i>meters</i>. No orbit, no space, no payload.
This is at SpaceX grasshopper levels, see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_(rocket)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_(rocket)</a> for comparison.<p>DC-X and New Shepard also launched and landed vertically and that at far higher heights.<p>The problem is not landing a rocket vertically, it is to launch a payload (recovery mechanisms mustn't eat up all the payload mass), make it back through atmosphere at supersonic speeds and still have means (or propellant left) to achieve a landing.<p>It's a good step for the chinese space company LinkSpace but pretty much non-news for others in my opinion.