China Successfully Recovers Rocket Booster After Historic Launch

BEIJING: (News Desk) A Chinese space startup has successfully recovered the first stage of an orbital rocket on land, marking a major milestone in the country’s growing commercial space industry and reusable launch technology.

The Zhuque-3 rocket, developed by Beijing-based startup LandSpace, lifted off at around 7:35am local time on Wednesday from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwestern China, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

Following the launch, the rocket’s first stage successfully returned to Earth and landed at a designated site in the desert. State broadcaster CCTV footage showed the booster descending steadily before deploying its landing legs and touching down safely.

The rocket’s second stage continued its mission and successfully placed the Honghu-03 satellite into orbit, with Chinese authorities describing the overall mission as a complete success.

Space experts said the achievement was particularly significant because LandSpace became the first company outside the United States to successfully land an orbital-class booster on its own landing legs.

Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist and professor at Australia’s Macquarie University, described the successful landing as an important milestone for China’s commercial space sector.

He noted that China has now demonstrated two different rocket-recovery approaches through its state-owned and private space programmes. The latest achievement follows the recovery of the first stage of the state-developed Long March-10B rocket from a sea-based platform in July.

Experts believe reusable rocket technology could help China lower launch costs and increase the frequency of missions, particularly as Beijing works toward deploying large satellite constellations.

The Chinese government has invested billions of dollars in its space programme as President Xi Jinping promotes what he calls the country’s “space dream.”

According to Xinhua, the Zhuque-3 has received approval from the China National Space Administration and is designed to provide low-cost, high-capacity and high-frequency launch services.