HELSINKI — Chinese launch startup Landspace conducted a 10-kilometer vertical liftoff, vertical landing test at Jiuquan spaceport Wednesday as it develops a reusable orbital rocket.
The Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 reusable vertical take-off and landing recovery verification rocket lifted off from Landspace facilities at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at around 12:00 a.m. Eastern, Sept. 11 (0400 UTC).
The flight lasted 200 seconds and included the first secondary ignition in Chinese VTVL tests. The engine cut off after 113 seconds of flight, reaching an altitude of 10,002 meters, followed by around 40 seconds of gliding descent. The landing burn began at 4,640 meters and the test article touched down at a landing pad 3.2 kilometers from the launch area. The test article landed 1.7 meters away from the center of the landing pad.
Landspace in January executed a 350-meter VTVL test using the Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 test article. Wednesday’s test added a 4-piece grid fin system.
Wednesday’s successful test is a step forward in the development of the Zhuque-3 stainless steel, methane-liquid oxygen (methalox) reusable launcher. The two-stage Zhuque-3 will be 4.5 meters in diameter and have a total length of 76.6 meters.
The mass at liftoff will be about 660 tons and be powered by nine Tianque-12B engines. Payload capacity to LEO will be 21,000 kilograms when expendable. It will carry up to 18,300 kg when the first stage is recovered downrange. Alternatively, it can carry 12,500 kg when returning to the launch site.
Landspace said in a statement that the company aims for a first orbital flight in 2025. The first recovery and reuse of the first stage is to follow in 2026.
The firm said the test was a big step forward. It noted the successful verification of the combined control method of the reusable rocket engine gimbaling, cold gas attitude control reaction control system, and grid fins. This further validated the rocket’s precise guidance and control algorithms under conditions of high altitude, high speed, and high dynamic pressure, according to Landspace.
The company also underlined its quality management system and test safety management requirements. This includes comprehensive risk identification and control, and operating procedures and emergency response plans. In June, fellow Chinese commercial launch firm Space Pioneer narrowly avoided disaster when its Tianlong-3 first stage dramatically took off during a static fire test.
Landspace was founded in 2015. It initially developed a solid rocket, named Zhuque-1, which failed to reach orbit with its sole flight. The company switched focus to Zhuque-2, a methalox launcher. It failed with its first flight in December 2022, but reached orbit twice in 2023.
The firm is one of many developing reusable rockets in China. The new test is not the highest so far by a Chinese entity—state-owned SAST reached 12 kilometers in June—but the engine restart marked a first. SAST plans a 70-kilometer-level test, covering a full duration first stage flight in the future. An orbital flight of the methalox rocket is planned for 2025.
Another Chinese commercial launch startup, Deep Blue Aerospace, is expected to conduct a VTVL test imminently. That test will aim at the 100-kilometer-level, as a step towards an orbital flight of the Nebula-1 rocket around early 2025. Chinese state-owned and commercial firms are set on developing reusable rockets, adding to China’s overall launch capacity.
Reusable rockets and new commercial space pads will help China launch planned megaconstellations such as G60/Thousand Sails and Guowang. The new rockets could also help replace China’s aging hypergolic Long March rockets.