Chinese startup LandSpace on Wednesday (August 19) recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, joining SpaceX and Blue Origin as the only private companies to land an orbital-class booster and narrowing China's gap with the U.S. in reusable rockets.

The ability to return, recover and reuse a booster is crucial to reduce cost and make it easier to put satellites into orbit, turning space exploration into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation.

The achievement occurred during LandSpace's second attempt to land the engine-packed first stage of the Zhuque-3, a stainless-steel rocket billed as China's answer to SpaceX's Falcon 9.

The 66.1-metre (216-foot) Zhuque-3 lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwestern China, with the nine-engine first stage—or booster—returning to a landing site in the province of Gansu, 390 km (242 miles) southeast of the launch pad, state media reported.

The landing is likely to increase investor confidence as LandSpace pursues a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's tech-focused STAR Market. LandSpace seeks to raise 7.5 billion yuan ($1.11 billion) through an initial public offering to support development and expand reusable launch services.

LandSpace aims for the Zhuque-3 booster to be reused up to 20 times. SpaceX launches the Falcon 9 around 150 times a year, or roughly three times a week, and reuses its booster dozens of times.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. ROCKET PREPARING FOR LAUNCH

2. ROCKET COMBUSTION DURING LIFT-OFF

3. ROCKET LAUNCHING

4. VARIOUS OF ROCKET IN AIR

5. ROCKET DESCENDING, LANDING

6. ROCKET AFTER LANDING ON LAUNCH PAD

7. ROCKET LANDING

8. VARIOUS OF ENGINEERS CHEERING

9. VARIOUS OF ROCKET LANDING

DONGFENG COMMERCIAL SPACE INNOVATION PILOT ZONE, GANSU PROVINCE, CHINA (AIRED ON AUGUST 19, 2026) (CCTV - No use China)

10. VARIOUS OF ROCKET STATIONED PRE-LAUNCH