China's Private Rocket Lands Upright After Launch

Chinese startup LandSpace just pulled off something no private company in the country has ever done before.

The Beijing-based firm successfully landed the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket on August 18, bringing the booster down upright on solid ground after launching a satellite to orbit. It's the first time a private Chinese company has recovered a rocket stage during an orbital mission.

The landing happened at 7:35 p.m. EDT at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. The rocket's first stage separated after launch, flipped around, and descended back to Earth using its own engines before touching down gently on four landing legs.

Meanwhile, the upper stage kept going and successfully delivered a satellite called Honghu 03 to its planned orbit. Everything worked exactly as planned.

This was only the second flight ever for the Zhuque-3 rocket. The first launch in December 2025 went mostly well, with the upper stage reaching orbit successfully. But the landing attempt that day ended in an explosion near the designated pad due to engine trouble.

The Zhuque-3 stands 216 feet tall and can carry about 40,350 pounds to low Earth orbit. It runs on liquid oxygen and liquid methane, the same fuel combination SpaceX uses for its Starship megarocket.

Only one other Chinese rocket has ever landed before. In July, a state-owned Long March 10B settled into a giant net on a ship at sea. But LandSpace's achievement marks the first touchdown on land using legs, similar to how SpaceX's Falcon 9 has been landing since 2015.

The Ripple Effect

China is racing to master rocket reusability, the technology that's made SpaceX's Falcon 9 the world's busiest launcher. Making rockets reusable dramatically cuts launch costs because companies can fly the same booster multiple times instead of building a new one for every mission.

Several other Chinese companies are developing their own reusable rockets right now. State-owned CASC is working on reusable versions of its Long March 12 series. Private firms are also in the mix, all competing to bring down the cost of reaching space.

LandSpace says this successful landing proves their rocket design is reliable and ready to move from testing to regular operations. Each successful landing brings China closer to having its own fleet of affordable, reusable rockets that can launch again and again.