{
  "id": 3998698,
  "title": "Relive private Chinese rocket's explosive 1st landing attempt (video)",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/relive-private-chinese-rockets-explosive-1st-landing-attempt-video",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-28T17:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Space.com",
    "slug": "space-com",
    "url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/relive-private-chinese-rockets-explosive-1st-landing-attempt-video"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "LandSpace, a Beijing-based rocket company, made an ambitious attempt to land its first Zhuque-3 launcher on December 3, 2025. However, the mission did not go as planned. The first stage of the rocket encountered issues during its return to Earth, resulting in an explosive fireball near the intended landing site.\n\nFortunately, CCTV, the state-run Chinese broadcaster, captured dramatic footage of the failed landing attempt, providing valuable insight into the rocket's trajectory. The footage shows the rocket's resemblance to SpaceX's Falcon 9, featuring the rapidly approaching ground through the metal mesh of its hypersonic grid fins, which are advanced attitude-control devices pioneered by SpaceX.\n\nThe CCTV video also reveals that the Zhuque-3 booster suffered a mini-explosion during its descent, leaving it in a flaming state before it made contact with the ground. Despite this setback, LandSpace quickly learned from the experience. On August 18, the company successfully launched Zhuque-3 on its second mission, delivering a satellite to orbit. This marked the first-ever touchdown by a private Chinese orbital rocket and was just the second successful landing of a Chinese orbital launcher. The first achievement was accomplished by the Long March 10B rocket on July 10, which safely landed its first stage on a ship at sea.",
  "summary": "LandSpace's first attempt to land its Zhuque-3 rocket was quite a spectacle, as newly released video footage reminds us.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "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."
}