Chinese Start-Up Achieves First Reusable Rocket Landing on Land
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Chinese Start-Up Achieves First Reusable Rocket Landing on Land
- On August 19, 2026, Chinese private aerospace company LandSpace successfully landed the first stage of its Zhuque-3 reusable rocket on land, marking a significant advancement for China's commercial space industry.
- This achievement makes LandSpace one of only a handful of private companies globally, alongside SpaceX and Blue Origin, to successfully land an orbital-class booster.
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On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket successfully launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. The rocket’s second stage deployed the Honghu 03 satellite into its designated orbit. Approximately eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket executed a controlled, vertical landing at a designated site in Minqin County, Gansu Province, around 390 kilometers from the launch site. This historic event represents China’s first successful land-based recovery of an orbital-class rocket’s first stage using deployable landing legs.
The successful landing is a crucial step for China’s private space sector, demonstrating the ability to integrate complex technologies for launching, recovering, and eventually reusing large orbital-class rockets. Reusable rockets are vital for reducing the cost of space missions and increasing launch frequency, as the first stage typically accounts for about 70% of a rocket’s overall cost. LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 is comparable in size and lifting power to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, though it uses a liquid oxygen-methane propellant and a stainless-steel airframe, which the company states offers advantages in manufacturing cost and heat resistance.
This mission was the second flight for the Zhuque-3, following an initial attempt in December 2025 where the first stage did not complete a controlled landing. The achievement by LandSpace also highlights China’s dual-track approach to reusable rocket technology, with state-owned programs also pursuing their own recovery methods, including a sea-based net recovery system successfully tested in July. The focus now shifts to transforming this successful recovery into routine, rapid, and economical reuse for future commercial operations.