{"id":249640,"date":"2025-12-24T18:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/249640\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T18:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T18:46:09","slug":"chinas-landspace-hopes-to-complete-rocket-recovery-in-mid-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/249640\/","title":{"rendered":"China&#8217;s LandSpace hopes to complete rocket recovery in mid-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">LandSpace seen in China as the domestic answer to SpaceX<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Firm became first in China to fully test a reusable rocket<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Rocket recovery failed but company planning for success with mid-2026 launch<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Workrate of SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon 9 difficult for LandSpace to surpass, executive says<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>BEIJING, Dec 24 (Reuters) &#8211; Chinese rocket developer LandSpace plans to successfully recover a reusable booster in mid-2026, a company executive said in an interview, underscoring the Beijing-based firm&#8217;s ambition to become <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/science\/how-landspace-became-spacexs-biggest-chinese-challenger-2025-12-03\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">China&#8217;s answer to SpaceX<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket&#8217;s engine-packed first stage, or booster, after launch is crucial to reducing costs and making it easier for countries to send satellites into orbit, and to turn space exploration into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/aerospace-defense\/chinas-landspace-hopes-complete-rocket-recovery-mid-2026-2025-12-24\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Faerospace-defense%2Fchinas-landspace-hopes-complete-rocket-recovery-mid-2026-2025-12-24%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, privately-owned LandSpace became the <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/science\/chinas-landspace-fails-complete-reusable-rocket-test-2025-12-03\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">first Chinese entity<\/a> to conduct a full reusable rocket test, when Zhuque-3 blasted off from a remote area in northwest China for its maiden flight, drawing comparisons to U.S. aerospace giant SpaceX.SECOND ATTEMPT PLANNED<\/p>\n<p>While LandSpace failed to complete the crucial final step of landing and recovering the rocket&#8217;s engine-packed booster, it hopes to clear this challenge in mid-2026 with a second test flight, Zhuque-3 deputy chief designer Dong Kai told Chinese podcast Tech Early Know in an interview published on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If the second flight&#8217;s recovery (stage) succeeds, we plan that on the fourth flight we will use a reused first stage to launch,&#8221; Dong said.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the only company that has mastered reusable rocket technology is SpaceX, founded by the world&#8217;s richest person Elon Musk. SpaceX&#8217;s Falcon 9 launches around 150 times a year, or roughly three times per week, with its booster reused dozens of times if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Musk said in October that LandSpace&#8217;s Zhuque-3 design could allow it to beat the Falcon 9, but went on to state that the Chinese challenger&#8217;s launch cadence would take more than five years to reach that of SpaceX&#8217;s workhorse model, at which point the U.S. firm would have transitioned to its heavier, new-generation model Starship and &#8220;doing over 100 times the annual payload to orbit of Falcon&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING<\/p>\n<p>LandSpace&#8217;s Dong said that, while the company was already building an engine for a future Starship-like model, he was not optimistic that in five years Falcon 9&#8217;s work rate could be surpassed, noting that all rocket models in China combined this year totalled only around 100 launches.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very difficult for a single company to reach that kind of frequency. It requires the support of an entire ecosystem,&#8221; Dong said, adding that LandSpace had 10 launches planned next year for all its models.<\/p>\n<p>Other executives have previously said that the financial cost of a high-frequency testing and launch regimen was crucial to SpaceX&#8217;s success, and that LandSpace&#8217;s only hope of amassing enough funds to sustain a similar programme would be by tapping China&#8217;s capital markets, pointing to <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/aerospace-defense\/chinas-landspace-completes-tutoring-process-ahead-shanghai-ipo-2025-12-23\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">plans for an initial public offering<\/a> next year.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Alex Richardson<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LandSpace seen in China as the domestic answer to SpaceX Firm became first in China to fully test&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[82495,82496,82519,2786,82703,82500,53515,82543,82545,82535,82549,82541,82776,82553,82536,82531,83787,82529,82555,82542,82777,82547,82539,82557,82537,82540,82554,82552,82710,85720,82551,85719,82702,18,82578,45748,19,82504,82505,17,82524,83788,83810,82512,133,451,82965,82968,82513,753,30150,84334,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-249640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-aer","9":"tag-aero","10":"tag-amers","11":"tag-asia","12":"tag-asxpac","13":"tag-cmpny","14":"tag-cn","15":"tag-destabn","16":"tag-destafa","17":"tag-destcsa","18":"tag-destdnp","19":"tag-deste","20":"tag-destg","21":"tag-destgns","22":"tag-destlby","23":"tag-destousbsm","24":"tag-destousscm","25":"tag-destoustcm","26":"tag-destpco","27":"tag-destpcu","28":"tag-destpge","29":"tag-destpsc","30":"tag-destrast","31":"tag-destrbn","32":"tag-destreulb","33":"tag-destrnp","34":"tag-destrws","35":"tag-destrwsa","36":"tag-destseabs","37":"tag-destseatp","38":"tag-destucdptest","39":"tag-destz","40":"tag-easia","41":"tag-eire","42":"tag-emrg","43":"tag-gen","44":"tag-ie","45":"tag-indg","46":"tag-inds","47":"tag-ireland","48":"tag-namer","49":"tag-packageus-science","50":"tag-privt","51":"tag-sci","52":"tag-science","53":"tag-space","54":"tag-spacem","55":"tag-spc","56":"tag-spex","57":"tag-tech","58":"tag-tmt","59":"tag-topicworld-china-slug","60":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}