Demo Flight
Zhuque-3
LandSpace
Weather Forecast During Launch
The forecast calls for a temperature of 29°F, broken clouds, 76% cloud cover and a wind speed of 1mph.
Mission
Demo Flight
- Type: Test Flight
- Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
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.
Location
Launch Area 96B
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
Launch Area 96B has witnessed the launch of 1 rockets, including 1 orbital launch attempts. While Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China, has been the site for 273 rocket launches.
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is a Chinese spaceport located between the Ejin, Alxa, Inner Mongolia and Hangtian Town, Jinta County, Jiuquan, Gansu Province. It is part of the Dongfeng Aerospace City (Base 10).
Rocket
LandSpace Zhuque-3
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.
Landing
Core ZQ-3 F1
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. Booster ZQ-3 F1 last launched 12/03/2025 and has seen 0 successful launches and landings. First stage booster used on the 1st flight of LandSpace's Zhuque-3 rocket. Booster attempted to land downrange on its dedicated landing pad, but impacted the edge of the pad following an abnormal landing burn.
Zhuque-3 Landing Site - ZQ-3 LZ
Landing site for first stage boosters of LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 rocket at Minqin County, Gansu Province, China.
Vertical Landing - VL
Vertical landing using engines
Agency
LandSpace
LandSpace is a Chinese private space launch company based in Beijing. It was founded in 2015 by Tsinghua University alumni Zhang Changwu.
