A private Chinese rocket company just matched a milestone only a handful of firms have hit: catching its own orbital-class booster. LandSpace’s first stage came down vertically at a dedicated landing site in the Gansu desert.
The August 19 flight lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone. Stages separated about 137 seconds in; the second stage carried Hongqing Technology’s Honghu 03 satellite to orbit while the first stage descended over the Gansu desert and touched down at LandSpace Landing Site #1.
The recovery validated reentry, controlled descent and the final landing burn, the hardest pieces of reusable rocketry. LandSpace called the mission a full success.
The milestone puts LandSpace in a small club of private companies with demonstrated vertical booster recovery, alongside SpaceX, and sharpens the China-U.S. race in reusable launch. LandSpace’s Zhuque-2 was the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit in July 2023, beating rival methane programs.
Landing legs and recovery hardware add mass, which is why most commercial launchers skipped reuse. As satellite mega-constellations multiply, reusable stages are becoming the economic answer, and Chinese regulators have pushed private launch firms to close the gap with the United States.
For China’s private space industry, the landing is a technical credibility win that could unlock more launch contracts.
