深蓝航天 Deep Blue Limited – Deep Blue Aerospace Landspace One of sixty Chinese private space Carrier Rocket Companies in China-People’s Republic of China… As many of sixty plus Private Rocket Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. was established in 2017. The company is mainly a high-tech aerospace enterprise that focuses on the direction of liquid recovery and reusable launch vehicles and provides users with commercial launch services. Deep Blue Aerospace Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province. At the same time, the company has rocket general and liquid engine R&D centers in Yizhuang, Beijing and Xi’an, Shaanxi, respectively, and a rocket power system test base in Tongchuan, Shaanxi…..
The Zhuque-3 rocket, carrying liquid oxygen and methane, aims to become China’s first rocket to be successfully launched into orbit and recovered.
From October 18th to 20th, 2025 (Beijing time), at Launch Complex 2 of LandSpace’s liquid oxygen-methane rocket in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the “Zhuque-3” Y1 carrier rocket successfully completed the first phase of its maiden flight mission—fueling and static ignition tests. With this, the maiden orbital flight of the large liquid oxygen-methane rocket “Zhuque-3” is imminent, marking a significant step forward in the development and application of Chinese liquid oxygen-methane rockets and reusable rockets.
It is expected to become the world’s first large all-liquid oxygen methane rocket to achieve orbit.
On December 9, 2023, the China Association for Science and Technology, together with *Global People* magazine, jointly hosted the “Dialogue with Scientists” event at the launch pad of LandSpace’s liquid oxygen-methane rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. At the event, LandSpace officially launched its flagship product, the “Zhuque-3” large liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle, a highly anticipated rocket design for China’s commercial space industry.
The Zhuque-3 (ZQ-3) is a large, dual-cryogenic liquid propellant launch vehicle officially launched and developed by LandSpace in August 2023. It is primarily designed for launching large and mega-sized low-Earth orbit satellite constellations, while also capable of performing high-Earth orbit launch missions. The rocket employs a two-stage tandem configuration, with the main structure made of stainless steel. Its main propulsion system utilizes a dual-component cryogenic propellant of liquid oxygen and liquid methane. This rocket is partially reusable, with its first stage capable of being reused at least 20 times.
The first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket is equipped with nine Tianque-12B liquid oxygen-methane engines. These engines use a gas generator cycle and are capable of multiple restarts and deep throttling for recovery. Each engine has a sea-level thrust of 1000 kN (approximately 102 tons) and a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 160. To meet recovery requirements, the first stage is also equipped with four deployable sangular rudders, four deployable landing legs, and an attitude control system (RCS). The second stage is equipped with one Tianque-15B liquid oxygen-methane engine, also using a gas generator cycle, capable of at least three restarts, with a vacuum thrust of 1183 kN (approximately 121 tons) and a vacuum specific impulse of 3500 m/s (approximately 357 seconds).
The “Zhuque-3” rocket is designed to be 76.6 meters tall, with a first and second stage diameter of 4.5 meters. It is equipped with a 5.2-meter diameter fairing, has a takeoff mass of approximately 660 tons, and a takeoff thrust of approximately 900 tons. In its non-recovery state, the rocket has a payload capacity of 21.3 tons at an altitude of 450 kilometers in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its LEO payload capacity is 18.3 tons when recovered along the flight path (in the flight area) and 12.5 tons when recovered on return.
The Zhuque-3 is China’s first stainless steel launch vehicle and its first large liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle. Its lower material and propellant costs give it the low-cost characteristics essential for commercial rockets. The Zhuque-3 (YY1) launch vehicle is expected to make its maiden flight in November 2025. At that time, it is expected to become the world’s first large all-liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle to achieve orbital launch, marking another significant step in the global development and application of liquid oxygen-methane rockets and stimulating global research and development in this field. (Prior to this, the Vulcan and New Glenn rockets, which have completed their maiden flights, both had hydrogen-oxygen stage two sections.)
The challenge is to become the first Chinese carrier rocket to be successfully launched and recovered into orbit.
On December 22, 2015, UTC, after the Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched multiple satellites into low Earth orbit, SpaceX successfully recovered the first stage (B1019). This marked the beginning of the era of reusable launch vehicles for the Falcon 9. As SpaceX developed reusable rockets, other countries gradually recognized their significance and value. Some rocket development companies, including LandSpace, have adopted SpaceX’s approach to developing reusable rockets.
On November 16, 2014, the State Council of China issued the “Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Innovating Investment and Financing Mechanisms in Key Areas and Encouraging Social Investment” [1], which clearly stated that “private capital is encouraged to participate in the construction of national civil space infrastructure”. On October 26, 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense issued and implemented the “Medium and Long-Term Development Plan for National Civil Space Infrastructure (2015-2025)” [2], which introduced a specific plan to “encourage private capital to participate in the construction of national civil space infrastructure”. Around this time, private commercial rocket companies gradually emerged in China. The first batch of private commercial rocket companies in China, represented by LinkSpace (January 2014), LandSpace (June 2015), and Tianbing Technology (June 2015), were established. Subsequently, ZeroG Space Technology Group (August 2015), iSpace (October 2016), and Galactic Energy (February 2018) were established. Most of these companies aimed to develop reusable launch vehicles.
After several rounds of financing and years of research and development, reusable liquid-fueled launch vehicles from several private rocket companies are nearing their maiden flights. These include Tianbing Technology’s “Tianlong-3,” Zhongke Aerospace’s “Lijian-2,” Galactic Energy’s “Zhishenxing-1,” and DeepBlue Aerospace’s “Xingyun-1,” among others. The “Zhuque-3” is currently among the most advanced in terms of development and flight testing. Prior to this, the “Zhuque-3” development work had already completed 350-meter low-altitude vertical takeoff and landing flight tests (January 19, 2024) and 10-kilometer-class vertical takeoff and landing flight tests (September 11, 2024) using the “Zhuque-3” VTVL-1 recovery test rocket. Based on the current progress, LandSpace’s “Zhuque-3” is expected to become China’s first launch vehicle to achieve orbital recovery, marking a significant breakthrough in China’s reusable rocket development and a milestone in China’s launch vehicle development!
Achieving 20-tonnage large-capacity transport in stages
In the global aerospace field, although the liquid oxygen-methane propulsion route for launch vehicles is not a new technological approach, it represents a new direction for engineering applications. Compared to the mature liquid oxygen-kerosene propulsion rockets, the engineering application of liquid oxygen-methane propulsion rockets is relatively recent, and the development of a dual cryogenic propulsion system is more challenging than that of a single cryogenic propulsion system. Therefore, even after several years of development, the engineering application of liquid oxygen-methane rockets worldwide is still in its early stages, and the propulsion technology requires continuous upgrades and iterations, taking a considerable period to gradually mature.
For the “Zhuque-3” rocket, its 20-ton payload capacity needs to be achieved in stages. Unlike the target power configuration of the “Zhuque-3,” the basic version of this rocket is still equipped with a transitional main propulsion system. The basic first stage of the “Zhuque-3” is equipped with nine “Tianque-12A” liquid oxygen-methane engines, using a gas generator cycle, supporting bidirectional oscillation after pumping (±4°), employing self-starting, and featuring 45%~111% depth thrust adjustment, ±10% high-precision mixture ratio control, and multiple ignition capabilities. Each engine has a thrust of 838 kN (approximately 86 tons), a sea-level specific impulse of 2840 m/s (approximately 290 seconds), and a thrust-to-weight ratio of 105. Compared to the target configuration of the “Zhuque-3,” the basic first-stage main engine still has significant shortcomings in thrust and thrust-to-weight ratio.
The basic second stage is equipped with one “Tianque-15A” liquid oxygen-methane engine, which uses a gas generator cycle, supports bidirectional oscillation before the pump (±4°), has a thrust adjustment capability of 60%~100% and a three-start capability, a vacuum thrust of 836 kN (approximately 85 tons), and a vacuum specific impulse of 3320 m/s (339 seconds). Compared with the target configuration of “Zhuque-3”, the basic second stage main engine has significant gaps in thrust and specific impulse.
The “Zhuque-3” basic model is a transitional product. Based on the transitional main engine model, compared with the target size and payload capacity, the “Zhuque-3” basic model has a smaller takeoff mass, lower altitude, and smaller payload capacity. The basic model has a total height of 66.1 meters, a takeoff mass of about 570 tons, a takeoff thrust of 7542 kN (about 770 tons), a non-recoverable low Earth orbit (LEO) payload capacity of 11.8 tons, and a near-Earth orbit payload capacity of 8 tons when recovered in the flight area.
Taking small steps and iterating rapidly to achieve target payload capacity step by step. Compared to the traditional “one-step” development route for launch vehicles, LandSpace adopts a new development route of “small steps and rapid iteration” to achieve development goals step by step. Relatively speaking, the “rapid iteration” development route allows for the faster rollout of rocket models and continuous improvement and upgrading through actual flight tests, ultimately reaching a superior technical state—precisely what commercial spaceflight requires. From “Zhuque-2” to “Zhuque-3,” the key to LandSpace’s rocket model iteration lies in its first and second stage propulsion systems.
The main propulsion technology of both the “Zhuque-2” and “Zhuque-3” rockets originates from the “Tianque-12” (TQ-12) liquid oxygen-methane engine initially developed by LandSpace. This engine was installed in the first stage of the first batch of “Zhuque-2” rockets, while the vacuum version was installed in the second stage of the same batch. Subsequently, LandSpace improved upon the “Tianque-12” to develop the first-stage main engine “Tianque-12A” and the second-stage main engine “Tianque-15A,” which were subsequently installed in the improved version of “Zhuque-2” and the basic version of “Zhuque-3.” Currently, the “Tianque-12B,” based on the “Tianque-12A,” and the “Tianque-15B,” based on the “Tianque-15A,” are both under development. After completion, they will be installed in the first and second stages of the improved version of “Zhuque-3,” respectively, ultimately helping “Zhuque-3” achieve its target of a 20-ton-class near-Earth payload capacity, which is precisely the payload capacity required for the mass deployment of China’s giant low-Earth orbit constellation.
Self-created constellations, with their own requirements.
Since SpaceX began launching its massive low-Earth orbit (LEO) communications constellation, Starlink, the number of Falcon 9 launches has increased rapidly. During this period, two-thirds of the launches were for SpaceX’s own Starlink constellation project. This constellation, with a long-term plan of over 40,000 LEO satellites, will continue to dominate the majority of Falcon 9 launches, creating a huge and stable demand.
Similar to SpaceX, LandSpace has also planned a giant low-Earth orbit (LEO) communication satellite constellation. On November 30, 2017, Beijing LandSpace Hongqing Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of LandSpace, was officially established. Subsequently, the company proposed the “Honghu-3” satellite constellation plan, applying to deploy 10,000 satellites in 160 orbits, becoming another giant LEO constellation after China StarNet and Qianfan.
Once the “Honghu-3” constellation is ready and enters the large-scale batch networking phase, it can become the main source of launch missions for “Zhuque-3”. The latter needs to form a high-frequency launch capability of hundreds of times per year, like “Falcon-9”, to meet the networking launch requirements.
Meanwhile, the satellite constellations currently in the “Star-Magnitude Rocket” stage urgently require large-scale, batch launch support from heavy-lift rockets, which will constitute the main source of launch missions for the “Zhuque-3” satellite. In this way, both domestic and international demand will establish a stable demand for “Zhuque-3” launch services. Faced with a massive number of satellites awaiting launch, “Zhuque-3” needs to complete upgrades and iterations as soon as possible to form a stable and efficient recovery and reuse capability, ultimately providing “high-capacity, high-frequency, and low-cost” launch services.
Conclusion
In the long term, the liquid oxygen-methane route is generally superior among reusable rockets. Compared to liquid oxygen-kerosene rockets, the biggest advantage of liquid oxygen-methane rockets lies in their time cost advantage. Because the coking and carbon buildup after methane combustion is extremely minimal, it can be recovered and reused almost immediately, and a single rocket module can achieve a higher frequency of launches. In the short to medium term, however, liquid oxygen-kerosene rockets have the advantage of more mature propulsion technology, enabling them to achieve high payload capacity more quickly and achieve continuous and stable launches faster. Against the backdrop of China’s large-scale batch launches of its giant low-Earth orbit constellation, a “positioning battle” is underway in the commercial and civilian rocket industry. Whoever can provide “high payload capacity, high frequency, and low cost” launch services first will gain a leading advantage, and liquid oxygen-kerosene rockets will be more likely to achieve this goal.
For “Zhuque-3,” making the best choice also presents a greater challenge. Achieving its target launch capacity and establishing continuous and stable launches will be a lengthy process, and many challenges will be encountered as the technology matures and stabilizes. The LandSpace team has previously used the phrase “The Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains” to describe their dedication and perseverance, highlighting their down-to-earth and far-sighted qualities, which will ultimately be the cornerstone of “Zhuque-3’s” success.
The Zhuque-3 is a representative of China’s large liquid oxygen-methane rockets, reusable rockets, and commercial rockets. Its successful maiden flight and successful recovery will mark the first successful orbital launch and recovery of a reusable Chinese rocket, as well as the first successful orbital launch of a large methane rocket—a landmark event in the history of China’s launch vehicle development. We await a space journey carried by pure blue flames!
Images and visuals are from their Respectives.
