Zhuque 3

The ZQ 3 Y1 rocket produces more than 750 tons of thrust at liftoff.

The first stage of ZQ 3 Y1 is equipped with nine TQ-12A engines providing the main ascent thrust.

Sentinel-2 provides images important for monitoring Zhuque-3's landing site.

The Zhuque-3 is part of China's strategy to develop a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9.

The test verified the overall launch and flight plan for Zhuque-3 and confirmed the compatibility of interfaces between major systems on the vehicle.

The ZQ 3 Y1 vehicle, built mainly from stainless steel, lifted off at noon from a dedicated launch service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

A single upper-stage engine carried a mass simulator toward low Earth orbit during the ZQ 3 Y1 mission.

LANDSPACE successfully launched the Zhuque-3 rocket for the first time in December 2025.

LandSpace reported that ZQ 3 Y1 is 66.1 meters tall with a diameter of 4.5 meters and a fully fueled mass of about 570 metric tons.

The liftoff of Zhuque-3 was captured by a DJI MAVIC drone.

The Zhuque-3 has a landing pad designed to endure impact.

The attempt to recover the Zhuque-3 booster via a powered vertical descent ended when the stage exploded upon contact with the landing zone.

LANDSPACE unveiled the Zhuque-3 rocket design in December 2023.

The ZQ 3 Y1 has the capacity to deploy heavy satellites into low Earth orbit and sun-synchronous orbits.

Zhuque-3's 'block one' version can lift 8,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit with a first-stage landing downrange.

Fairing separation for Zhuque-3 will occur at T+05:24.

Zhuque-3 will liftoff at T+00:00.

The first-stage ascent of Zhuque-3 was entirely successful, achieving clean separation of the second-stage.