In a move that will surprise absolutely no one who has ever dropped a phone, China's Landspace Zhuque-3 rocket took its maiden reusable flight on August 19, and the whole thing was filmed by a dozen DJI consumer-grade cameras - including the upcoming Osmo 360 II - which the company is calling aerospace history. Because nothing says 'aerospace-grade engineering' like a camera you could buy at Best Buy.

The Osmo Action 6, a camera that costs less than a used Honda Civic, somehow survived the 932°F / 500°C re-entry conditions without any physical alterations. That's right, no duct tape, no custom heat shielding, just a camera doing its job. DJI shared unedited footage of the nine-minute flight, and it's utterly captivating - if you're into watching rockets go up and come back down, which, let's be honest, is still pretty cool.

Of course, they didn't just stick the cameras on with off-the-shelf mounts (that would be too easy). The team built custom mounts that could withstand the high-frequency, high-intensity vibration and the extreme heat of space flight. Because while the camera is off-the-shelf, the mount is definitely not.

Inside the mount, the camera recorded the entire flight in 4K, including the re-entry blackout zone where no direct communication is possible. Engineers are hoping to use the footage to assess the journey and plan a repeat flight within six months, as they strive to catch up with SpaceX and Blue Origin. They've got a long way to go, but hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a reusable rocket fleet.

The Osmo Action 6's normal image stabilization algorithm handled everything - no special space-stabilization software needed. Some competitors have criticized DJI's adjustable aperture mechanism as a potential vulnerability, but it clearly survived a trip with significant G-force. So maybe those critics should focus on their own cameras.

The camera also has a 1/1.1-inch sensor, which picked up details like the paddles that control the rocket's flight. Other DJI cameras captured different perspectives: the unreleased Osmo 360 II (already teased by the company), the Mavic 4 Pro for aerials, and the DJI Matrice 4TD for thermal shots. It's a full DJI product placement extravaganza, and we're here for it.

The 216ft / 66m tall Zhuque-3 is China's answer to the SpaceX Falcon 9, a reusable rocket designed to lift satellites into low-earth orbit. It carries a payload of 14.2 tonnes - less than the Falcon 9's 22.8 - but both aim to be workhorses. This was the second attempt for the Zhuque-3; the first, eight months ago, ended with a dramatic explosion on the pad. This time, it stuck the landing.

It's a big leap for China, because previous reusable rocket efforts required nets or catching devices. So despite the smaller payload, the speed of development is impressive. And the use of off-the-shelf tech highlights the race to make space cheaper and more sustainable than the original space race. Because nothing says 'sustainable' like strapping a consumer camera to a rocket and hoping for the best.

As a journalist, I can confirm the DJI Osmo Action 6 is currently my choice for best action camera, despite GoPro's best efforts. And the Mavic 4 Pro, which I've tested myself, is a spectacular drone. So if you're in the market for a camera that can survive a trip to space, you know what to buy.