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2d ago

LandSpace Reaches Orbit With Zhuque-3 on Debut Flight, Loses Booster in Near-Pad Landing Accident

The partial success signals an accelerating push for reusable launchers to cut costs and support large satellite constellations.

Blue Origin's reusable rocket engine New Shepard is seen on a landing pad on billionaire Jeff Bezos's company's second suborbital tourism flight near Van Horn, Texas, U.S., October 13, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
A Chinese reusable booster explodes in historic first orbital test in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, China, on December 3, 2025.
The Zhuque-2 Y-3 carrier rocket, a methane-liquid oxygen rocket by Chinese company LandSpace, carrying satellites takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in Gansu province, China December 9, 2023. cnsphoto via REUTERS
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Overview

  • LandSpace said an abnormal combustion occurred after the first-stage engines ignited for the landing burn, causing the booster to impact near the edge of a prepared recovery pad in Minqin county.
  • The upper stage reached its planned orbit carrying a mass simulator, and the company declared the orbital objective of the test flight successful.
  • The stainless-steel, methalox Zhuque-3 stands about 66 meters tall with nine TQ-12A first-stage engines and Falcon 9–class payload targets of roughly 18–21 tons depending on recovery.
  • The attempt marked China’s closest effort yet to recover an orbital-class first stage, with an investigation now underway to determine the cause of the failed recovery.
  • The downrange inland landing try occurred roughly 300–390 kilometers from Jiuquan; no injuries were reported, and further reusable-rocket tests from state and private programs are expected soon.