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 will attempt 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 268 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
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. The booster serial number is unknown at this time. Check back for more details about the booster.
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.
