Azernews.Az

by Alimat Aliyeva

The Chinese private aerospace company LandSpace has successfully launched its Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) commercial rocket, marking an important milestone for the country’s growing private space industry.

According to reports, Zhuque-3 became the first Chinese commercial launch vehicle to successfully reach orbit and then perform a controlled landing of its first stage. The launch took place at 7:35 a.m. local time from the Dongfeng launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China.

The rocket’s first stage landed on schedule at a specially prepared landing site in Minqin County, Gansu Province, in northwestern China. The successful recovery is considered a major step toward developing reusable launch vehicles and reducing the cost of future space missions.

The second stage of Zhuque-3 successfully placed the Honghu-3 spacecraft into orbit. The mission demonstrated that LandSpace is capable of combining orbital launch operations with the recovery of a reusable rocket stage.

The achievement is particularly significant because reusable rockets have become one of the key technologies in the modern space industry. By reusing major parts of a rocket instead of discarding them after every launch, companies can potentially reduce costs and increase the frequency of missions.

Interestingly, LandSpace is one of several Chinese private aerospace companies competing to develop reusable rockets. If these technologies continue to improve, China could become an even stronger competitor in the rapidly growing global commercial launch market.