In a significant milestone for China’s commercial space sector, Beijing-based LandSpace conducted the inaugural flight of its ZQ 3 reusable rocket on December 3, 2025, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch demonstrated mixed results as the second-stage booster successfully reached its designated orbit while the first-stage booster failed during recovery attempts.
The ZQ 3 Y1 rocket, standing 66.1 meters tall with a 4.5-meter diameter, represents a technological leap with its stainless steel construction and methane-powered engines. Weighing approximately 560 tons at launch with 750 tons of thrust capability, the vehicle is designed to deliver heavy payloads to both low-Earth and sun-synchronous orbits.
Despite the first-stage booster’s destruction over the Minqin county recovery site in Gansu province, the mission provided critical engineering data. LandSpace confirmed the flight validated the rocket’s overall design, system compatibility, and flight procedures while gathering essential information for future recovery optimization.
The company’s proprietary methane engines—featuring nine TQ 12A engines on the first stage and one TQ 15A on the second—mark a strategic shift toward reusable, environmentally sustainable propulsion technology. The rocket’s design incorporated four grid fins and landing legs specifically for controlled descent and soft landing capabilities.
This launch follows LandSpace’s previous achievement in July 2023, when the company completed the world’s first orbital mission using methane propulsion with its ZQ 2 rocket. The development of reusable launch technology positions LandSpace to compete for contracts supporting China’s ambitious satellite internet constellation projects, representing a growing market within the global space industry.