China's Landspace attempts to land a rocket booster today
Landspace launches its Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket from Jiuquan today and tries to land the first stage on legs, eight months after its debut flight ended in a fireball. Here is what is different this time.
In 40 words. Chinese company Landspace launches its Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket from Jiuquan on August 10 and attempts to land the reusable first stage on legs, China's fourth orbital booster recovery attempt after December's debut flight ended in a fireball seconds before touchdown.
A rocket stage settling itself down on four legs after boosting a payload to orbit is still, eight decades into spaceflight, something only one company has done routinely. SpaceX has landed Falcon 9 boosters since 2015. Today a Chinese startup takes its second shot at joining that list.
What is launching and when
Landspace is targeting liftoff of its Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone at the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China at around 7:45 p.m. EDT on August 10, 23:45 GMT, or 7:45 a.m. Beijing time on August 11. Minutes after separating from the second stage, the first stage is set to fire its engines again, extend landing legs, and try to touch down under its own power, the same basic sequence Falcon 9 uses.
Why the first attempt failed, and who else has tried
Landspace already flew a Zhuque-3 once, on December 3, 2025, and the result was a mixed one. The second stage reached orbit successfully, but the first stage exploded in a fireball during its final powered descent toward the landing pad. Three weeks later, state-owned CASC flew its own reusable rocket, Long March 12A, and lost that booster too, an engine failed to ignite during the landing burn and the stage hit the ground five kilometers off target. CASC's next try, in July 2026 with Long March 10B, actually succeeded, but by catching the booster in a net strung across a ship at sea rather than landing it on legs. Today's Zhuque-3 Y2 flight is China's fourth attempt overall, and if the legs deploy cleanly it would be the country's first successful leg landing of an orbital booster.
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A methane rocket built from stainless steel
Zhuque-3 stands 216 feet (65.9 meters) tall and burns methane and liquid oxygen through gas generator cycle engines, nine TQ-12A engines on the first stage and a single TQ-15A on the second, and the airframe itself is built from stainless steel rather than the aluminum or carbon composite used on most orbital rockets. Landspace completed a static fire test on June 29, saying in a statement that "all systems operated normally, and test data and results met expectations, validating the correctness and coordination of system operations."
Why a landing, not just a launch, is the real milestone
Reaching orbit is a solved problem for Landspace, its rockets have done that before. Landing a booster intact and reusing it is the part that turns a rocket into an airline-style vehicle instead of a disposable one, and it is the reason SpaceX's Falcon 9 undercuts almost every other launcher on price per kilogram. China's one successful recovery so far came from a state-owned company using a net rather than legs, so a clean touchdown today would make Landspace the first private Chinese company, and the first in the country at all, to land an orbital booster the way Falcon 9 does.
Frequently asked questions
What company is attempting the landing and when?
Landspace, a Chinese commercial launch company, targets liftoff of its Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket at around 7:45 p.m. EDT on August 10 (7:45 a.m. Beijing time on August 11) from the Jiuquan spaceport.
Has Landspace tried this before?
Yes. Zhuque-3's first flight on December 3, 2025 reached orbit with its second stage, but the first stage exploded during its landing attempt.
Has any Chinese rocket landed a booster successfully?
Yes, once. State-owned CASC recovered a Long March 10B booster in July 2026, but by catching it in a net at sea rather than landing it on legs, so no Chinese rocket has yet pulled off a leg landing like Falcon 9's.
How does Zhuque-3 compare to SpaceX's Falcon 9?
Both use a powered descent with deployable landing legs, but Zhuque-3 runs on methane and liquid oxygen through TQ-12A and TQ-15A engines and uses a stainless steel airframe, differences from the kerosene fueled, aluminum lithium Falcon 9.
Why does landing a booster matter more than reaching orbit?
Reusing a first stage instead of discarding it after every flight is what lets a launch provider cut cost per flight, the advantage that has made SpaceX the dominant commercial launcher since it started landing boosters in 2015.
Sources
- Space.com, Chinese company Landspace targets Aug. 10 for historic rocket launch and landing attempt
- Daily Galaxy, China's Landspace sets date for major reusable rocket launch and landing attempt
- SpaceNews, Long March 12A reaches orbit in first reusable launch attempt, but landing fails
- SpaceNews, China becomes second country to recover orbital booster with Long March 10B
- Wikipedia, Zhuque-3
The sky never sleeps.
Eclipses, meteor showers, launches… Every Sunday I send you the week’s sky events you can’t miss. Free.