LandSpace lands and recovers Zhuque-3 first stage
Chinese start-up LandSpace launched Zhuque-3 on August 19 from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone and successfully landed and recovered the rocket's first stage at a site in Gansu about 242 miles from the launch pad. The vehicle is 66.1 meters tall, built from stainless steel, can lift 14.2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit and is designed for up to 20 reuses, while SpaceX's Falcon 9 can lift 22.8 tons and has logged boosters with 36 flights. The flight follows a failed recovery attempt eight months earlier and comes a month after a Long March 10B first-stage recovery, marking a milestone in the U.S.-China space competition and informing near-term lunar mission preparations.
LandSpace recovered a Zhuque-3 first stage after orbital launch.
Context
Eight months ago LandSpace's recovery attempt failed and the booster exploded. One month…
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