Zhuque 3

LandSpace intends to achieve successful recovery of the Zhuque-3 rocket by mid-2026.

The failure of the Long March 12A follows a similar failure by commercial provider LandSpace on December 3 when its Zhuque-3 rocket failed to land after a successful orbital insertion.

If successful, LandSpace will reuse the first stage of Zhuque-3 on flight 4 after the Y2 mission.

If the Y2 flight is successful, the first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket will be reused on flight 4.

The first recovery attempt of Zhuque-3 got further than international counterparts on their first attempts.

At least three Zhuque-3 vehicles are believed to be in production for future flights.

Zhang Xiaodong stated that the next goal for Zhuque-3's launch will be a perfect landing.

The Zhuque-3 launch vehicle fell seconds short of a successful landing during its first flight.

Dai Zheng explained that customers care about the vehicle's ability to reach orbit, which Zhuque-3 demonstrated.

LandSpace’s partially reusable Zhuque-3 launch vehicle flew for the first time, demonstrating that it can reach low Earth orbit and beyond.

Zhang Xiaodong, the Chief Designer of Zhuque-3, reported that the final landing burn failed seventeen seconds before touchdown due to 'abnormal combustion'.

Because the Zhuque-3 booster did not land, it will be shipped to the factory in many pieces.

A 'black box' recorded all vehicle data during the Zhuque-3 first flight and has been recovered for failure analysis.

The second Zhuque-3 is scheduled for April 2026.

The Zhuque-3 first-stage booster aimed for the center of the landing site but landed off to the side at high speed.

The first-stage booster of Zhuque-3 ignited its engine to safely reenter the atmosphere.

Zhuque-3's next flight is expected to take place in the first half of 2026 after the conclusion of the landing failure analysis.

Zhuque-3 General Commander Dai Zheng stated that the company considers the partially reusable launch vehicle’s first flight a success.