Beijing5 minutes ago
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China’s leading private space company Landspace launched its first reusable rocket ZQ-3 Y1 on December 3. The rocket successfully achieved orbit, but the first stage booster malfunctioned during landing. It exploded over the recovery site.
This was China’s first such attempt where a reusable rocket was sent into orbit. America is still the only country whose orbital class booster has successfully returned to Earth. Elon Musk’s company SpaceX was the first to do this through Falcon 9 rocket.
Apart from this, Jeff Bozes’ company Blue Origin has done this. Last month, the New Glenn rocket managed to recover and reuse the booster in its second mission.
3 pictures of the mission…
Chinese company Landspace launched its first reusable rocket ZQ-3 Y1 on December 3.
The rocket completed its entire journey from liftoff to orbit insertion as per the schedule.
Due to some disturbance during the first stage return, it caught fire in the air.
Objective of the mission: To test reusable technology
The objective of this mission was to take the rocket to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and land the first stage back on Earth. However, he could not succeed in this due to fire.
How was the test: Launch was smooth but cracked during return
- The rocket was launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the afternoon.
- The rocket completed the entire journey from liftoff to orbit insertion as scheduled.
- Landspace engineers reported in live updates that the telemetry data was perfect.
- Due to some disturbance during the first stage return, it caught fire in the air.
- The reason for this could be some fault in the rocket’s heat shield or parachute system.
Rocket runs on methane-powered engine
- The ZQ-3 Y1 is a medium-lift reusable rocket, powered by a methane-powered engine. It has been made by China’s private company Land Space. The diameter of the rocket is 4.5 meters. The height is 66.1 meters.
- When completely filled with fuel, its weight becomes about 570 metric tons. Liftoff thrust is more than 750 tons. It can move satellites into low-Earth orbit or sun-synchronous orbit.
- The rocket’s propellant tanks are made of stainless steel, which is strong, can withstand high temperatures and corrosion and is also low cost. The booster has four grid fins and four landing legs.
Rocket failed due to minor technical problem
Experts say that a minor technical problem caused the rocket to fail. It won’t take much time to fix this problem. A spokesperson of the company said, this was the first test, with the data we will make the next flights stronger.
This test was a historic moment for China’s commercial space sector, as it was the first time a Chinese private firm conducted a first stage recovery trial with an orbital test. Till now China has single-use rockets, but reusable ones could reduce the cost by 30-50%.
Zhang Changwu created Landspace in 2015
Landspace is a Beijing-based private space firm, founded in 2015. Its founder and CEO Zhang Changwu focuses on reusable rocket technology. In 2023, Landspace launched the world’s first methane-LOX rocket orbital launch with the ZQ-2.
Future Plans: From Space Station Supplies to Moon Missions
Landspace will perform spacecraft launch missions to China’s Tiangong Space Station from 2026. The company will continue to work on validating and applying reusable technology. With reusable tech, China will focus on satellite constellation, moon missions and space tourism.
