Zhuque-3

Active Re-Usable

LandSpace (LS)

Dec. 3, 2025

Description

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

LandSpace

Commercial
Founder: Zhang Changwu
LS 2015

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

Zhuque-3 | Honghu-03

LandSpace | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

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.

Low Earth Orbit ZQ-3 F2 - Maiden Flight Zhuque-3 Landing Site
Explore Share

Zhuque-3 | Demo Flight

LandSpace | China
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Status: Launch Successful
Mission:

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.

Low Earth Orbit ZQ-3 F1 - Maiden Flight Zhuque-3 Landing Site
Explore Share

Long March 2D
Success
3 hours, 5 minutes 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
10 hours, 33 minutes 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
1 day, 21 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
2 days, 11 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
2 days, 12 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 …