Touchdown! Private Chinese rocket aces landing on 2nd-ever flight
The Beijing-based company LandSpace landed its Zhuque-3 rocket this evening (Aug. 18), notching a huge milestone for commercial Chinese spaceflight.
China's Beijing-based startup LandSpace achieved a major milestone in the nation's space program when the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket successfully landed on Earth during a recent orbital launch. This marked the first time a private Chinese company had accomplished such a feat, and represented the second orbital rocket touchdown by a Chinese rocket overall.
The Long March 10B, operated by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), had previously made the first orbital rocket landing on July 10.
The Zhuque-3's landing on terra firma was made possible by its landing legs, similar to those used by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. This mission is significant as it represents the first successful recovery attempt of an orbital-class launch vehicle's first stage using landing legs, and the first successful booster recovery on land by China. The company described the flight as a pivotal test for Zhuque-3 as it moves from a technological demonstration phase toward the engineering application phase of reusability.
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