China's LandSpace lands a reusable rocket booster on solid ground for the first time
LandSpace recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket in Gansu province, becoming the first private Chinese company to land an orbital-class booster, per Reuters and The Next Web.
Chinese startup LandSpace recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket on Wednesday, becoming the first private Chinese company to land an orbital-class booster and joining SpaceX and Blue Origin as one of only three private companies worldwide to do so, according to Reuters. It was LandSpace's second attempt at the landing; the booster flew back about 390km to touch down on its legs in Gansu province, marking China's first ground-based booster recovery (a prior recovery last month used a sea platform). The 66.1-meter Zhuque-3 carries nine first-stage engines and can lift 14.2 metric tons to orbit versus the Falcon 9's 22.8 tons, per Reuters. LandSpace, which is pursuing a Shanghai stock listing, says it aims to refly the recovered booster within six months and eventually reuse each one up to 20 times. Sources: Reuters, The Next Web.