{
  "id": 1839432,
  "title": "China’s LandSpace beats SpaceX with steel-booster recovery after orbital launch",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/chinas-landspace-beats-spacex-with-steel-booster-recovery-after-1839432",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-19T00:28:33.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
    "slug": "reuters-business-via-scmp",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3364492/chinas-landspace-beats-spacex-steel-booster-recovery-after-orbital-launch"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "China's LandSpace has achieved a significant milestone in the global space industry by successfully recovering a stainless-steel booster after an orbital launch, surpassing SpaceX in this endeavor. The Zhuque-3 rocket, which is the first commercial rocket from China to both reach orbit and recover its first stage, is a 66-metre (217-foot) launch vehicle powered by liquid methane and oxygen. It lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert at 7.35am on Wednesday, delivering a Honghu-3 internet satellite into its designated orbit. The first stage of the rocket then returned to Earth and landed vertically at a recovery site in Minqin county, Gansu province, approximately 390km (242 miles) southeast of the launch pad. This marks China's second successful orbital rocket launch with a recoverable first stage, following the state-developed Long March-10B. Both rockets share similar payload capacities, with the Long March-10B carrying around 22 tonnes to low Earth orbit and Zhuque-3 carrying about 21 tonnes. With the recovered first stages, these rockets can carry approximately 16 and 18 tonnes, respectively, reducing their capacity by around 6-7 tonnes each. The successful recovery of the Zhuque-3 rocket could prove crucial for the development of China's broadband internet megaconstellations, similar to SpaceX's Starlink. These constellations aim to provide global broadband coverage through the deployment of thousands of satellites, creating a global market and infrastructure of strategic military importance.",
  "summary": "In a global first, China’s leading commercial rocket company LandSpace has recovered a stainless-steel booster after an orbital launch, marking a major step in the country’s efforts to develop lower-cost, reusable rockets. The successful mission makes Zhuque-3 China’s first commercial rocket to both reach orbit and have its first stage recovered. SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster, which is also made…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "China’s LandSpace beats SpaceX with steel-booster recovery after orbital launch",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/chinas-landspace-beats-spacex-with-steel-booster-recovery-after",
        "published": "2026-08-19T00:28:33.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}