JIUQUAN, 19th August, 2026 (WAM) -- China launched the reusable rocket Zhuque-3 on Wednesday morning, achieving its first recovery of a rocket's first stage on land.
The Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket blasted off at 7:35 am (Beijing Time) from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China.
The land-based recovery was completed as planned, with the rocket's first stage touching down smoothly at the designated position in the recovery site. The second stage sent the onboard Honghu-03 satellite into a preset orbit. The flight mission was a complete success.
This mission followed the successful sea-based net recovery of the Long March-10B's first stage on 10th July.
It marked China's first successful land-based controlled recovery of a rocket's first stage using deployable landing legs, highlighting a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology.