China's LandSpace Lands Rocket Stage on Land for First Time

Chinese space startup LandSpace has achieved a significant milestone, successfully launching its Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) rocket and executing the first-ever controlled landing of an orbital-class rocket stage on land. The rocket's second stage deployed the Honghu-03 communications satellite into orbit before returning to a controlled landing in the Gobi Desert, 390 kilometers from the launch site at the Jiuquan spaceport.

The Zhuque-3, standing 66.1 meters tall, is constructed from stainless steel and powered by methane and liquid oxygen engines. This material choice, according to N+1 portal, drastically cuts production costs and simplifies post-flight maintenance. LandSpace's primary objective is to make commercial space launches substantially cheaper. While the first stage accounts for 70-80% of a rocket's total cost, fuel represents only 1-3%.

LandSpace representatives project that each stage can be reused up to 20 times. This reusability could slash the cost of launching a kilogram of payload to orbit to approximately $2,000, a steep drop from the typical $8,000-$10,000. The company's total investment in development and stock market preparation is estimated at 7.5 billion yuan ($1.05 billion).

Experts from Spaceflight Now note that LandSpace's success elevates China's competitive standing against industry giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin. This makes China the second nation globally where a private enterprise has successfully implemented reactive vertical landing for an orbital booster. Concurrently, China's state-owned CASC conducted a successful sea-platform stage landing in mid-2026, indicating the development of redundant launch infrastructure within the country.

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This is the first successful return of an orbital-class rocket stage to land.