Tag: Zhuque-3
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From Recovery Milestones to Routine Reuse: What Falcon 9 Can Teach China’s Reusable Rocket Industry
As the launch industry demands lower costs, higher flight rates and greater scale, reusability is making rockets function more like transportation systems. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was the first reusable orbital rocket to enter commercial service. Its combination of relatively low costs, frequent launches, large scale and strong reliability has made it a mainstay of the…
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Zhuque-2E Y7 Launches 10 Qianfan Satellites in Single Mission (Video)
LandSpace successfully launched a Zhuque-2E Y7 carrier rocket at 2:26 p.m. on September 15 from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone, placing 10 satellites for Qianfan Polar Orbit Group 19 into their designated orbits. The successful one-rocket, 10-satellite mission advanced the deployment of the Qianfan constellation while reinforcing Zhuque-2E’s role in China’s expanding commercial…
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How Do Rockets Find Their Way Home? Three Mainstream Recovery Methods Explained
On August 19, the Zhuque-3 Y2 launch vehicle lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. Its first stage successfully landed as planned at the Zhuque-3 landing site in Minqin County, Gansu Province. The mission marked another major breakthrough for China in key reusable-rocket technologies, making Zhuque-3 the country’s first launch vehicle to…
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China’s First Open Shared TT&C Platform for Commercial Space Begins Operations in Beijing
China’s first open shared platform for commercial space tracking, telemetry and command (TT&C) services officially began operations Aug. 19 in Beijing, supporting the full measurement and control process for the launch of a Honghu-03 satellite and the recovery of a reusable rocket booster. The Beijing Rocket Street Commercial Space Intelligent TT&C Center, located in Beijing…
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From Precision Landings to Rapid Turnaround: Key Technologies Behind Reusable Rocket Engines
With the successful recoveries of the Long March 10B and Zhuque-3, rocket recovery and reuse have become one of the hottest topics in the space industry. Yet the real value lies not in the dramatic moment of recovery, but in the underlying economics: reducing the cost per launch by reusing high-value components. As the most…
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Six Key Metrics for Assessing China’s Reusable Rockets
China’s reusable-rocket race has reached a turning point. With the Long March-10B completing an offshore net-capture recovery and Zhuque-3 Y2 landing its first stage on deployable legs, the country has demonstrated that it can recover intact boosters from orbital-class missions. But landing a rocket is not the same as reusing it—and reuse does not automatically…
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Decoding the Six Reusable Rockets Successfully Recovered Worldwide
Rocket recovery has evolved from an experimental concept into one of the defining capabilities of modern launch vehicles. By returning and potentially reusing major rocket stages, launch providers aim to reduce costs, shorten turnaround times and support a higher launch cadence. To date, six orbital-class launch vehicles worldwide—Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Starship, New Glenn, Long…
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China’s Race for Orbit and Spectrum: Hainan’s New Factory Targets 1,000 Satellites a Year
The successful recovery of Zhuque-3 was celebrated across China. From state-owned aerospace organizations to private companies, China’s commercial space sector has achieved a historic breakthrough in rocket recovery technology. Yet while everyone was looking up at the sky, another, less visible part of China’s space strategy was quietly taking shape. June 2026, Wenchang, Hainan Province.…
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After Long March 10B and Zhuque-3 Recoveries, What Comes Next for China’s Commercial Rockets?
On August 19, 2026, the second Zhuque-3 rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. Its first stage subsequently returned to a landing pad in Minqin, Gansu Province, marking China’s first land recovery of the first stage of an orbital-class launch vehicle. Just 40 days earlier, on July 10, the Long March…
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Successful Rocket Recovery Is Only the Beginning. Three Priorities Come Next
China has successfully recovered two orbital-class rocket boosters—one at sea and one on land—but recovery itself is only the starting point. Turning reusable rockets into a commercially viable capability will depend on three priorities: Rapidly returning recovered boosters to flight and developing a first stage optimized for frequent reuse; Continuously increasing the payload fraction to…