Landspace Recovers Zhuque-3 Booster in Second Attempt

China’s Landspace achieved its second orbital booster recovery with Zhuque-3, advancing reusable rocket technology for satellite constellations.

Landspace successfully recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket during the second orbital launch on August 18, 2026, landing approximately 390 kilometers downrange in Minqin County, Gansu Province. This marks China’s second orbital booster recovery attempt after a failed first try with the Zhuque-3 Y1 mission in June 2026. The recovery represents the third entity globally to land an orbital booster on legs after SpaceX and Blue Origin, moving Landspace’s recovery technology from verification to engineering-scale reuse verification. The rocket’s first stage recovery preserved 18,300 kilograms of payload capacity to low Earth orbit—compared to 21,000 kilograms when expendable. This launch supported China’s Guowang and Thousand Sails megaconstellations, with Landspace’s affiliate Hongqing Technology having raised over $191 million in funding within the previous month. Landspace targets a second Zhuque-3 launch in Q2 2026 with reused first stages in Q4 2026.

This recovery directly enables mass deployment of low-cost satellite constellations for global connectivity and space services. By reusing the first stage, Landspace reduces the cost per launch for orbital infrastructure, accelerating the scale of satellite networks that could deliver affordable global internet access. The achievement advances China’s space program toward sustainable orbital operations but remains in engineering-scale verification. Landspace has not provided commercial reuse timelines for recovered stages, and the first recovery attempt failed during powered descent. What follows will determine whether this technology scales to support the megaconstellations it targets.

Source: SpaceNews