offbeat
Red alert for rivals as LandSpace nails it after December disaster
Chinese space startup LandSpace has landed a first-stage booster on land, the first time a Middle Kingdom company has achieved the feat.LandSpace flies rockets called Zhuque and has built three generations of the craft.Zhuque-1 only flew once, in 2018. Zhuque-2 became the first liquid oxygen-methane vehicle to reach orbit when it first flew in 2022. It can can carry 6,000 kilograms to a 200km low Earth orbit or 4,000kg to a 600km Sun-synchronous orbit. LandSpace has flown it eight times since 2022. Six missions succeeded.
Zhuque-3 is the company’s new flagship and can hoist 21,300 kg to a 450km orbit. The rocket uses LandSpace’s own TQ-12A engines, which burn liquid oxygen-methane fuel. The rocket’s first stage is re-usable, and can land on its four legs.
LandSpace flew the Zhuque-3 for the first time last December, but the mission failed – although its on-board Ethernet performed brilliantly.The company did better yesterday, when a Zhuque-3 sent a satellite into orbit and managed to land its first stage. You can see a video of the landing on the company’s Weixin account.
