China’s Zhuque-3 reusable rocket achieved a significant milestone during its maiden flight, marking the country’s first attempt to recover an orbital stage of a carrier rocket. Although the final-stage recovery failed, the mission was hailed as a major breakthrough by Dai Zheng, commander in chief of the Zhuque-3 mission and CEO of LandSpace, the rocket’s developer.
A Leap Forward in China’s Reusable Rocket Technology
Developed independently by LandSpace, the Zhuque-3 is a large-capacity, low-cost, reusable liquid-fuel launch vehicle designed to deploy large satellite constellations. The rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
After ignition, the first and second stages separated approximately 130 seconds into flight. The second stage successfully completed the orbital insertion, while the first stage initiated its planned return sequence. Despite this, an anomaly occurred during the recovery process, causing the booster to fail its soft landing attempt.
“The first stage experienced abnormal combustion during recovery, preventing it from touching down safely,” Dai told China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing. He added that an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the malfunction.
Close to Success Despite Setback
Dai explained that the launch served as an experimental mission rather than a guaranteed success. “From the outset, we knew this was exploratory,” he said. “Landing a rocket from supersonic speed to the ground intact is one of the hardest challenges in rocket control.”
He noted that the rocket’s performance was impressive through most of its descent. After separation, Zhuque-3 completed a successful high-altitude ignition at around 80 kilometres, followed by a smooth aerodynamic glide phase. “From 40 kilometres down to three kilometres above ground, the aerodynamic control was flawless,” Dai said. However, the final braking ignition failed, causing the rocket to crash about 40 metres from the designated landing zone.
A Successful Orbital Mission and Future Prospects
Despite the landing failure, Dai emphasised that the rocket’s successful orbital insertion was a major achievement. “The key goal was to verify the rocket’s ability to reach the intended orbit,” he said. “That success demonstrates our readiness to provide launch services to satellite customers.”
He also pointed out that reusability, while vital for reducing launch costs, is secondary to ensuring reliable payload delivery. “Our clients care about whether their satellites reach orbit, not whether the rocket can be reused,” Dai explained.
This maiden flight carried only a dummy payload, serving as a proof of concept. For LandSpace, the success of the orbital phase marks a crucial step towards commercial operations and positions the Zhuque-3 as a strong contender in China’s growing private space industry.
with inputs from Reuters
