It looks like booster reuse has landed in China, if you'll pardon the expression, and we can expect many more attempts and possibly even going full tilt into operational status.
Back on last Monday (8/10) in the coverage of China's Long March 7A's inflight explosion and loss of vehicle there was mention in the source materials of a coming flight of a totally different vehicle, called a Zhuque-3 that was expected to be launched soon but after the explosion, they expected maybe the rocket would re-checked again, but the coverage included an expectation they'd try to recover the booster.
The Zhuque-3 flew last December (12/3 local) and the rocket attained orbit but missed the booster landing. In that way, the overall picture resembles many other attempts at recovery we've seen, from early attempts with the Falcon 9 in 2014 and '15 to, well, pretty much everyone else on their first attempts to land.
Meanwhile the engineers working on the rocket kept at it and while another Chinese rocket, the Long March 10B, landed its booster into a capture net on a vehicle offshore, they finally were ready to try the Zhuque-3 again today.
The Zhuque-3, or ZQ-3, rocket lifted off from a commercial launch zone at China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:35 pm EDT (23:35 UTC) Tuesday, about an hour after sunrise Wednesday at the spaceport in the Gobi Desert. Nine methane-fueled engines powered the 216-foot-tall (66-meter) rocket on a course southeast from Jiuquan, then the rocket’s upper stage took over the task of placing a single satellite into orbit.
The rocket’s first stage, made of stainless steel, soared to the edge of space, then maneuvered toward a prepared landing zone some 240 miles (390 kilometers) downrange, settling to a propulsive touchdown on four extendable landing legs. LandSpace, founded in 2015, declared the mission a total success.
NOTE: This is a screen grab, not the video and the "Continue watching on X" box is not a link. If you want to go to see the full video here's the link.
While this Zhuque-3 isn't exactly a copy of a Falcon 9, it certainly looks like one, and the specifications look a lot like a Falcon 9's specs as well. The fact that the second flight of this booster successfully landed is the advantage to not developing everything first. And even watching SpaceX's "How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster" video.
The Zhuque-3 is the design of what's called a private company named LandSpace (I'm skeptical there are any private companies in the PRC). There was a smaller Zhuque-2 that became the world’s first methane-fueled launcher to reach orbit in 2023, but has been replaced by this more powerful booster.
The Zhuque-3’s basic design can place a payload of more than 17,600 pounds (8 metric tons) into low-Earth orbit after accounting for the fuel reserves required for booster recovery. LandSpace eventually plans to debut an upgraded Zhuque-3 carrying more propellant and using more powerful engines, raising its payload capacity to more than 40,000 pounds (18.3 metric tons) in reusable mode or a few tons more with an expendable booster.
LandSpace says they intend to do a thorough inspection of this booster and fly it again ASAP. They claim they're aiming for "at least 20" flights for each booster.
This the strongest contender for competition for the Falcon 9 so far.
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