Honghu-03

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Communications

Low Earth Orbit Launch Area 96B Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
ZQ-3 F2 - Zhuque-3 Landing Site

Note: Second test launch of LandSpace’s ZQ-3 rocket and first ever successful orbital launch vehicle booster recovery by a Chinese private launch service provider. Prototype LEO communication satellite for LandSpace's subsidiary Hongqing Technology.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 19, 2026, 12:38 a.m.

Launch success.


Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 18, 2026, 11:56 p.m.

Liftoff and confirmed successful 1st stage booster landing.


Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 14, 2026, 1:42 p.m.

Rescheduled for NET August 18 UTC per new NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 10, 2026, 5:52 p.m.

Launch delayed per cancellation of NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • Aug. 5, 2026, 8:14 a.m.

NET August 10 UTC per NOTAMs; Assignment of this launch to the launch within this launch window is uncertain.


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 F2

Status: Lost


Type: Core
Flight Proven: No
First Flight: August 18, 2026
Last Flight: August 18, 2026
Flights: 1
Landings Attempted: 1
Landings Successful: 1

Landing Information

The Zhuque-3 first stage booster has successfully landed on its downrange landing pad, however it was damaged after tipped over due to post-landing fire induced landing leg failure.

Result: Successful Vertical Landing landing at Zhuque-3 Landing Site.

LandSpace

LandSpace

(LS)

Founder: Zhang Changwu Founded: 2015 Successes: 10 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

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 96B


Falcon 9
Success
21 hours, 37 minutes ago
USSF-481
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

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


Zhuque-2E Block 2
Success
2 days, 9 hours ago
10 satellites
Launch Area 96A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Ride-share of 10 satellites to sun-synchronous orbit, including: * Guangchuan-03 & 04 (LT-03/04) from LandSpace's subsidiary LandTower for testing…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 11 hours ago
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-35
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

35th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commer…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 21 hours ago
Starlink Group 15-25
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.


Falcon 9
Success
6 days, 13 hours ago
SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer A
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Tranche 1 Transport Layer A is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Sp…


Long March 12
Success
1 week ago
SatNet LEO Group 27
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.…


Nuri
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
NeonSat-2 to 6
LC-2 - Naro Space Center, South Korea

NeonSat-2 to 6 are part of the South Korean government's Earth observation micro-satellite constellation NeonSat (New-space Earth Observation Satelli…


Falcon Heavy
Success
2 weeks ago
NROL-97
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Classified payload for the US National Reconnaissance Office.


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks, 1 day ago
Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks, 1 day ago
Crew-13
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

SpaceX Crew-13 is the thirteenth crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercia…