China Achieves First Land Recovery of Reusable Rocket Stage
China has successfully recovered the first stage of a reusable rocket on land for the first time, state media reported on Wednesday, marking a significant step in the country's efforts to advance its space programme.
The reusable rocket, named Zhuque-3, was developed by private aerospace company LandSpace. It was launched on Wednesday morning, and the rocket's first stage was recovered shortly after, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.
This achievement is China's first successful land recovery of a rocket stage, but it is the second time the country has recovered a rocket stage overall. In July, the first stage of a Long March-10B rocket was recovered on a sea platform using a net-capture system after separating from the second stage.
Globally, reusable rocket technology has been pioneered by private companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, both of which have been recovering rocket stages since 2015. This technology helps reduce launch costs by reusing hardware that would otherwise be discarded after carrying satellites and other payloads into space.
Xinhua reported that Wednesday's recovery also marked China's first use of deployable landing legs, describing the result as "a major breakthrough in the country's reusable rocket technology."
In a related development, Japan conducted the first test flight of an experimental reusable rocket the day before, which took off and safely landed. Japan is also working to develop similar technology to cut launch costs and compete in the global space market.
