{"id":64362,"date":"2026-08-19T01:29:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/?guid=2accab895dc1157cb848f47d4ed2d65c"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:11:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:11:45","slug":"touchdown-private-chinese-rocket-aces-landing-on-2nd-ever-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/08\/19\/touchdown-private-chinese-rocket-aces-landing-on-2nd-ever-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Touchdown! Private Chinese rocket aces landing on 2nd-ever flight (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n                            \n                            <article>\n                                <iframe src=\"https:\/\/content.jwplatform.com\/players\/lKGzqfQj.html\" id=\"lKGzqfQj\" title=\"Private Chinese rocket nails landing after 2nd-ever launch\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"auto\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><p>China just notched another big spaceflight milestone.<\/p><p>The Beijing startup LandSpace successfully landed the first stage of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/chinese-company-landspace-targets-aug-10-for-historic-rocket-launch-and-landing-attempt\"><u>Zhuque-3 rocket<\/u><\/a> this evening (Aug. 18), becoming the first Chinese company ever to do so during an orbital launch.<\/p><p>It was just the second Chinese orbital <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/29295-rocket-history.html\"><u>rocket<\/u><\/a> touchdown overall. The first was pulled of on July 10 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/making-history-china-lands-rocket-during-an-orbital-launch-for-1st-time-ever\"><u>by a Long March 10B<\/u><\/a>, which is built by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).<\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:2802px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img id=\"b3TbWLSVpCuC9ANjWAvB6X\" name=\"Screenshot 2026-08-18 at 6.13.09\u202fPM\" alt=\"The first stage of Landspace's Zhuque-3 rocket rests on its landing pad shortly after its historic touchdown on Aug. 18, 2026.\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/b3TbWLSVpCuC9ANjWAvB6X.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"2802\" height=\"1576\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">The first stage of Landspace's Zhuque-3 rocket rests on its landing pad shortly after its historic touchdown on Aug. 18, 2026. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: LandSpace)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>The Long March 10B had some help returning to Earth, settling softly into a net-like device affixed to a ship at sea. But Zhuque-3 came down on terra firma and stayed upright thanks to a set of landing legs, like those sported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18853-spacex.html\"><u>SpaceX<\/u><\/a>'s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.<\/p><p>\"This mission marks China's first-ever successful recovery attempt of the first stage of an orbital-class launch vehicle using landing legs, and China's first successful booster recovery on land,\" LandSpace said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LandSpace_Tech\/status\/2089877726492836301\" ><u>via X this evening<\/u><\/a>. <\/p><p>\"It is a pivotal flight test for Zhuque-3 as it transitions from the technological demonstration and verification phase toward the engineering application phase of reusability,\" the company added. \"This mission further verified the design correctness and reliability of the Zhuque-3 reusable launch vehicle system, validated its first-stage recovery capability and engineering maturity.\"<\/p><p>Zhuque-3 broadly resembles the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/18962-spacex-falcon-9.html\"><u>Falcon 9<\/u><\/a>, which made its first landing way back in 2015 and now has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/spacex-starlink-17-22-b1097-vsfb-ofisly-600th-falcon-landing\"><u>more than 600<\/u><\/a> of them under its belt. Both feature a reusable booster and an expendable upper stage, and they're about the same height \u2014 230 feet (70 meters) for the Falcon 9 and 216 feet (66 m) for Zhuque-3.<\/p><p>Their lifting power is similar as well. Zhuque-3 can haul about 40,350 pounds (18,300 kilograms) to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/low-earth-orbit\"><u>low Earth orbit<\/u><\/a>, while the Falcon 9's LEO payload capacity is 50,265 pounds (22,800 kg).<\/p><p>The two rockets use two very different fuels, however \u2014 a combination of liquid oxygen (LOX) and rocket-grade kerosene for the Falcon 9, compared to LOX and liquid methane for Zhuque-3. This \"methalox\" mixture is also used by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/spacex-starship-super-heavy.html\"><u>Starship<\/u><\/a>, the fully reusable megarocket that SpaceX is developing to help humanity settle the moon and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/astronomy\/solar-system\/mars\"><u>Mars<\/u><\/a>, among other spaceflight tasks.<\/p><figure class=\"van-image-figure  inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:2048px;\"><p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\"><img id=\"EWCfGUEH4omZPqXNnb3chi\" name=\"HQC8toGbUAA_Xrc\" alt=\"a white and red rocket launches from a desert spaceport\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/EWCfGUEH4omZPqXNnb3chi.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1152\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"inline\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">LandSpace's Zhuque-3 rocket launches on its second-ever mission on Aug. 18, 2026. The flight was a success, and Zhuque-3's first stage returned to Earth for a landing \u2014\u00a0the first ever for a private Chinese orbital rocket. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: LandSpace)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Today's launch \u2014 which occurred from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China at 7:35 p.m. EDT (2335 GMT; 7:35 a.m. on Aug. 19 Beijing time) \u2014 was the second overall for the Zhuque-3. The rocket first flew <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/chinas-1st-reusable-rocket-explodes-in-dramatic-fireball-during-landing-after-reaching-orbit-on-debut-flight\"><u>on Dec. 2, 2025<\/u><\/a>, on a mostly successful debut; Zhuque-3's upper stage reached orbit as planned, which is rare for a first flight. <\/p><p>LandSpace tried to bring the booster back for a touchdown that day as well, but the attempt failed. Zhuque-3 suffered \"an abnormal combustion\" as it neared the ground, <a href=\"https:\/\/www-news-cn.translate.goog\/tech\/20251203\/4128c29394394d5a83450c7f4aea4ba6\/c.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp\" ><u>according to the state-run outlet Xinhua<\/u><\/a> (translation by Google), and ended up exploding near the designated landing pad.<\/p><p>Today's mission, however, was an unqualified success for the Zhuque-3: The rocket's upper stage delivered a satellite called Honghu 03, which was developed by Hongqing Technology, to its designated orbit, LandSpace wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LandSpace_Tech\/status\/2089877715331809546\" ><u>another X post today<\/u><\/a>.<\/p><div class=\"see-more see-more--clipped\"><figure><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet hawk-ignore\" data-lang=\"en\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2089877715331809546\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MISSION SUCCESS | ZhuQue-3 Y2 Reusable Launch Vehicle Achieved Full Success in Orbital Insertion and First-Stage RecoveryOn August 19, 2026, at 07:35 (UTC+8), the ZhuQue-3 (ZQ-3) Y2 reusable launch vehicle lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone.\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/fshijOxgtc<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cantworkitout\/status\/2089877715331809546\">August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure><div class=\"see-more__filter\"><\/div><\/div><p>Zhuque-3 is part of a concerted Chinese push toward rocket reusability, an efficiency-boosting feature that has helped make the Falcon 9 the world's leading launcher by far. (The SpaceX rocket <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/private-spaceflight\/spacex-shatters-its-rocket-launch-record-yet-again-167-orbital-flights-in-2025\"><u>flew 165 times in 2025<\/u><\/a>, roughly equalling the activity of all other orbital launchers combined.)<\/p><p>For example, CASC isn't just working on the Long March 10 line (which includes the 10A crew-carrying variant); its Long March 12A and 12B rockets will also have reusable first stages. The Long March 12A has lifted off once to date, <a href=\"https:\/\/spacenews.com\/long-march-12a-reaches-orbit-in-first-reusable-launch-attempt-but-landing-fails\/\" ><u>in December 2025<\/u><\/a>, and its debut was similar to that of Zhuque-3: The Long March 12A second stage reached orbit successfully, but its booster failed to stick the landing.<\/p><p>And then there are the private rockets. A number of Chinese companies in addition to LandSpace are working on vehicles with reusable first stages, including CAS Space, Deep Blue Aerospace, Galactic Energy, iSpace, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/space-exploration\/launches-spacecraft\/chinas-record-breaking-gravity-1-rocket-launches-9-satellites-from-a-ship-at-sea-video\"><u>Orienspace<\/u><\/a> and Space Pioneer. So Chinese rocket landings may not be a novelty for much longer.<\/p>\n                                                            <\/article>\n                            \n                        ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Beijing-based company LandSpace landed its Zhuque-3 rocket this evening (Aug. 18), notching a huge milestone for commercial Chinese spaceflight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2799,1263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-launches-amp-spacecraft","category-space-exploration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64362"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64393,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64362\/revisions\/64393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}