By 
October 21st, 2025
The Zhuque-3 by LandSpace.
Image credit: LandSpace
LandSpace, a Chinese private space company, is gearing up for the maiden flight of its partially reusable rocket, the Zhuque-3.
The booster has entered a critical phase after the completion of joint fueling drills and static ignition tests, laying the groundwork for the rocket’s official launch and first-stage recovery later this year. It is set to fly from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Zhuque-3 is equipped with landing legs and grid fins for controlled descent, designed to vertically recover its most expensive component — the first stage, which accounts for 70 percent of the total rocket cost, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
LOX-methane engines
Officially initiated in August 2023, ZhuQue-3 is a large, reusable liquid-fueled launch vehicle independently developed by LandSpace for large-scale constellation deployment missions.
Image credit: LandSpace
LandSpace explains that the vehicle features a 4.5-meter body diameter, a 5.2-meter fairing, an overall length of 66.1 meters, and a liftoff mass over 570 tons, delivering over 750 tons of liftoff thrust.
Constructed primarily from stainless steel, a LandSpace posting notes that the first stage is equipped with nine TianQue-12A LOX–methane engines and includes an RCS system, grid fins, and landing legs required for stage recovery — enabling precise autonomous return, soft landing, and reuse.
Landing precision
By parallel clustering of nine liquid oxygen-methane engines, the first-stage can achieve meter-level landing precision, as five of the engines are capable of gimballing, CCTV points out.
In addition, these engines produce a combined thrust of more than 7,500 kilonewtons, setting a new record for Chinese commercial liquid-fueled rockets, CCTV adds.
Go to this informative video showing the LandSpace Zhuque-3 Y1 being delivered to the launch site.
Posted in Space News
