HELSINKI — Chinese launch startup Landspace executed a first vertical takeoff, vertical landing with a test article Friday at a launch and recovery site at Jiuquan spaceport.
The Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 reusable vertical take-off and landing recovery verification rocket lifted off from Landspace facilities at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 3:00 a.m. Eastern (0800 UTC), Jan. 19.
The methane-liquid oxygen test article reached an altitude of around 350 meters during its roughly 60-second flight before setting down in a designated landing area. The landing had an accuracy of about 2.4m and a landing speed of about 0.75m/second, according to Landspace.
The test is part of the development of the stainless steel Zhuque-3 rocket first announced in November 2023. The company is aiming for the first flight of Zhuque-3 in 2025. The company earlier planned to execute this first VTVL test last month.
The two-stage Zhuque-3 will be 4.5 meters in diameter and have a total length of 76.6 meters. 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, or 12,500 kg when returning to the launch site.
China’s reusable rocket race
The Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 test follows similar “hop” tests conducted by fellow Beijing-based launch startup iSpace in November and December last year. The Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 is powered by an engine model that will be used for orbital flight, as with iSpace’s tests.
The tests are somewhat analogous to SpaceX’s Grasshopper tests a decade ago as part of development of the Falcon 9. The recent hops also highlight the competition within the Chinese commercial launch sector to develop a reusable launch vehicle.
The Chinese government first opened up sections of the space sector to private capital in late 2014. These developments are seen to be a reaction to…
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