Demo Flight

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Test Flight

Low Earth Orbit Launch Area 96B Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
ZQ-3 F1 - Zhuque-3 Landing Site

First test launch of LandSpace’s ZQ-3 rocket, with a dummy payload. The rocket’s 1st stage attempted to land on a landing pad about 300 km downrange of the launch site.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 3, 2025, 6:20 a.m.

Launch success, first stage failed to land.


Cosmic_Penguin • Dec. 2, 2025, 1:59 a.m.

NET December 3 per NOTAMs.



Zhuque-3

Family:
Configuration:

Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) is a reusable orbital launch vehicle developed by Chinese private company LandSpace. The rocket is built using stainless steel and shares the same series of gas generator cycle methane/liquid oxygen powered rocket engines as in the currently active ZQ-2E rocket. The first stage uses 9 TQ-12 engines (initially the TQ-12A, then upgraded TQ-12B) while the second stage uses 1 TQ-15 engine (TQ-15A, then TQ-15B). On launch missions where the first stage is recovered, it will land on a down-range landing pad located in Minqin County, Gansu Province.

Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    76.6 m
  • Diameter
    4.5 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    660.0 T
  • Thrust
    9000.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Zhuque-3
  • Family
  • Variant
  • Alias
    ZQ-3
  • Full Name
    Zhuque-3
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    21300.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Booster Info


ZQ-3 F1


Type: Core
Flight Proven: No
First Flight: December 3, 2025
Last Flight: December 3, 2025
Flights: 1
Landings Attempted: 1

Landing Information

The Zhuque-3 first stage booster executed its re-entry burn normally, but the landing burn was abnormal and the booster crashed next to its downrange landing pad on its landing attempt.

Result: ZQ-3 F1 did not land successfully.

LandSpace

LandSpace

(LS)

Founder: Zhang Changwu Founded: 2015 Successes: 7 Failures: 3 Pending: 1

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

Related News

SpaceNews

China’s latest batch of new and reusable rockets are close to launch

A number of new Chinese state-led and commercial rockets are set for debuts and fresh first stage recovery attempts in the coming weeks and months. The post China’s latest batch of new and reusable rockets are close to launch appeared fir…

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 96B


Smart Dragon 3
Success
5 hours, 32 minutes ago
OSE HS-01 & 02
Haiyang offshore launch location - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

2 hyper-spectral Earth observation satellites from Chinese company STAR.VISION. Both satellites are built in corporation with foreign customers: *…


Falcon 9
Success
15 hours, 5 minutes ago
Starlink Group 17-53
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 8A
Success
23 hours, 18 minutes ago
SatNet LEO Group 23
Commercial LC-1 - 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.…


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 5 hours ago
Starlink Group 17-52
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 1 hour ago
NROL-95
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.


Long March 6A
Success
6 days, 7 hours ago
TJSW-27A & B
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

2 Chinese classified satellites claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.


Long March 7A
Success
6 days, 20 hours ago
Tianlian 3-01
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

Tianlian is a Chinese data tracking and relay communications geostationary satellite series. The TL-3 (Tian Lian 3) satellites are the 3rd generation…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 17-51
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Starship
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
Flight 13
Orbital Launch Pad 2 - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USA

13th test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle. Second flight of Starship V3. For the first time, Starship will carry 20 V3 Starlink sa…


Kinetica 1
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
5 satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Share-ride of 5 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, including SpaceTY's TY-48. Details TBD.