China's Zhuque-3 Rocket Lands Back on Earth for the First Time

China landed a rocket booster back on the ground for the very first time on August 19. The rocket, called the Zhuque-3, lifted off from Jiuquan — one of China's main space launch centers — and helped send a satellite into orbit. After doing its job, the booster flew back and touched down safely in the northwestern province of Gansu. This was a big deal for China's space program and brings the country one step closer to American company SpaceX.

The company that built the Zhuque-3 is called LandSpace Technology. A video posted online showed the rocket slowing down and gently landing on special legs built to cushion the touchdown. Those legs are designed so the rocket can be checked, fixed up, and launched again in the future. Being able to reuse a rocket instead of throwing it away can save a lot of money.

This kind of reusable rocket technology is important because launching things into space is very expensive. SpaceX, the American company run by Elon Musk, has been doing this with its Falcon 9 rockets since 2017. That head start helped SpaceX become the top company for launching heavy satellites and build a huge network of thousands of internet satellites called Starlink. China wants to build a similar internet satellite network, but it has mostly been using single-use rockets so far.

LandSpace has already made history before. In 2023, it became the first company in the world to launch a rocket powered by methane fuel. Methane is seen as cleaner and safer than some other rocket fuels. The company is also working toward going public on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2025.

Eric Zhu, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, called this landing a watershed moment for China's commercial space sector. However, he also pointed out that the hard work is just beginning. LandSpace must now show it can quickly fix and relaunch the rocket in a cost-effective way — something that took SpaceX several years to figure out.

China has had some setbacks along the way. Earlier in August, a different Chinese rocket exploded during launch. And while China did recover a rocket booster in July, that one landed in the ocean, not on solid ground. Landing on land is considered a key step because it makes the recovery and refurbishment process much easier.

China is not the only country trying to catch up with SpaceX. In India, a startup called AgniKul Cosmos is working toward reusable rockets as well. The company is preparing for a mission in early 2027 that aims to recover a rocket's first stage after it delivers its payload into orbit. The global race to build cheaper, reusable rockets is clearly heating up.