China’s Landspace recovers booster with second orbital launch of Zhuque-3 rocket
HELSINKI — Landspace successfully landed the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket Tuesday following the second launch of the rocket from the Gobi Desert. The second Zhuque-3 rocket lifted off […] The post China’s Landspace recovers booster with second orbital launch of Zhuque-3 rocket appeared first on SpaceNews .
China's Landspace successfully launched its Zhuque-3 rocket for the second time, with the rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert. According to Reuters Business via SCMP, the launch occurred at 7:35am on Wednesday. The 66-metre rocket delivered a Honghu-3 internet satellite into its designated orbit.
The first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket was recovered, marking a major milestone for Landspace as China's first commercial rocket to both reach orbit and have its first stage recovered. This achievement also makes Landspace the fourth entity to recover a launch vehicle, following US companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, and the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The Zhuque-3 rocket is powered by liquid methane and oxygen. Reuters Business via SCMP and South China Morning Post reported that during its maiden flight in December, the second stage successfully reached orbit, but the first stage did not recover successfully. The first stage returned to Earth and touched down vertically at a recovery site in Minqin county, Gansu province.
Brief written by urgent.news from SpaceNews, Reuters Business via SCMP, South China Morning Post, Arabian Business — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
