Zhuque-3’s second flight marked a major milestone for LandSpace as the methalox rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on August 18 and successfully soft-landed its first stage downrange after delivering its payload to orbit.
Building on the near-miss of its December 2025 debut, the 66-meter vehicle used its nine Tianque-12A engines for a clean ascent, stage separation, and precise recovery on landing legs roughly 390 km from the pad, joining Falcon 9, New Glenn, and Chang Zheng 10B as one of only four flight-proven orbital-class partially-reusable rockets.