Watch the Launch

Watch the Launch

Maiden Flight

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Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Test Flight

Low Earth Orbit Launch Area 96A Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

First flight of the new methalox rocket developed by Chinese startup LandSpace.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 14, 2022, 2:47 p.m.

Launch failure reported per leaks; awaiting official information.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 8, 2022, 11:36 a.m.

New launch date per NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 8, 2022, 1:42 a.m.

Marked GO for launch.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 6, 2022, 4:48 a.m.

Added potential launch date and time, but identity of the launch with ZQ-2 is very uncertain.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 23, 2022, 12:43 p.m.

NET Dec. 3


Zhuque-2

Family:
Configuration:

Zhuque-2 is a medium-sized rocket powered by liquid oxygen and methane capable of lifting 6,000 kg of payload into a 200 km low Earth orbit, or 4,000 kg of payload into a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    49.5 m
  • Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Launch Mass
    229.0 T
  • Thrust
    2680.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Zhuque-2
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Zhuque-2
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    4000.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    1500.0 kg

LandSpace

LandSpace

(LS)

Founder: Zhang Changwu Founded: 2015 Successes: 9 Failures: 3 Pending: 0

Agency Type:

LandSpace is a Chinese private space launch company based in Beijing. It was founded in 2015 by Tsinghua University alumni Zhang Changwu.

WIKI
Arstechnica

Rocket Report: Meet the Blue Origin Space Rangers; methane rocket fails in debut

No one has yet stepped forth to win the great methane rocket race.

SpaceNews

Historic first launch of Chinese private methane-fueled rocket ends in failure

Chinese launch company Landspace suffered failure Wednesday in what was the world's first attempt to achieve orbit with a methane-fueled rocket.

Arstechnica

Rocket Report: Starship flight test slips to 2023; first methane launch is imminent

"We need some adult supervision there to actually help these guys."

SpaceNews

Chinese commercial methane-fueled rocket set for first launch

Landspace is preparing for a test launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket in what could be a marker for the progress being made by Chinese commercial launch companies.

SpaceNews

New launch vehicles set for test flights from China’s Jiuquan spaceport

Newly-developed orbital and suborbital launch vehicles are being readied for test flights at the Jiuquan spaceport as China’s efforts to foster a commercial space sector advance.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 96A


Kinetica 1
Success
9 hours, 2 minutes ago
9 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Share-ride of 9 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, details TBD.


Falcon 9
Success
11 hours, 18 minutes ago
Starlink Group 15-27
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 2D
Success
1 day, 2 hours ago
PIESAT-2 13-16
Launch Complex 9 - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

4 X-band synthetic-aperture radar Earth observation satellites for the Chinese Earth observation satellite company PIESAT.


Electron
Success
1 day, 9 hours ago
Owl By The Dozen (StriX Launch 12)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
2 days, 20 hours ago
Glonass-K1 No. 20 (?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Satellite serial number and Cosmos designation not confirmed. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite n…


Kuaizhou 11
Success
3 days, 10 hours ago
SpaceTY-51 & 52
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Earth observation radar satellites built by the Chinese satellite manufacturer SpaceTY.


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 11 hours ago
USSF-259
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield …


Long March 12
Success
3 days, 12 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 25
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
3 days, 23 hours ago
Progress MS-35 (96P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Progress resupply mission to the International Space Station.


Gravity-1
Success
4 days, 15 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #16
Yellow Sea (launch location 5) - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with …