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…..
China’s Landspace – China, People’s Republic of China has commercially successfully carried out its first land-based recovery of a reusable launch vehicle.
At 7:35 AM on August 19, 2026, the Zhuque-3 Y2 carrier rocket was launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone. At 7:41 AM, the first stage of the rocket successfully completed its land recovery according to the predetermined procedure, marking a complete success for the mission. This mission represents my country’s first successful controlled land recovery of a reusable carrier rocket’s first stage using landing legs, following the successful recovery of the Long March-10B carrier rocket’s first stage sea-based landing system on July 10. This achievement signifies a major breakthrough in my country’s reusable rocket technology.
The silver and red “Vermilion Bird” descended through the clouds. At a height of 100 meters above the ground, its four landing outriggers suddenly extended, gripping the earth like giant pincers.
At 7:44 a.m., after a flight of 390 kilometers, the first stage of the Zhuque-3 Y2 carrier rocket landed steadily at the Minqin Rocket Recovery Site in Gansu Province.
The Zhuque rocket successfully returned to its nest! China’s first successful vertical recovery and land-based landing of the first-stage landing leg of an orbital-class carrier rocket!
This marks a new chapter in China’s commercial space program: the rocket independently developed by the private company LandSpace has been successfully recovered, and its payload has been successfully placed into orbit, laying a solid technical foundation for my country to build a high-frequency, low-cost, and highly reliable space transportation system.
8 minutes and 41 seconds—the short flight of the Zhuque (Vermilion Bird) encapsulates eleven years of exploration by China’s commercial space industry, from “catching up” to “running alongside” the world.
The footage is replayed, counting from the beginning.
At 7:35 a.m., with the countdown of “ten, nine, eight…”, nine liquid oxygen methane engines ignited simultaneously, and the Zhuque rocket rose into the sky.
The Zhuque-3 launch vehicle is a new generation of low-cost, high-capacity, high-frequency, reusable liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle approved by the China National Space Administration, and developed by LandSpace Technology Co., Ltd. The rocket adopts a single-core, two-stage tandem configuration, with stainless steel as the primary material. It is powered entirely by liquid oxygen-methane, has a total length of 66.1 meters, a first and second stage diameter of 4.5 meters, and a fairing diameter of 5.2 meters. The first stage is equipped with a return control system, grid fins, and landing legs, enabling vertical recovery and reuse after orbital launch.
During the mission, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) organized the entire engineering team to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions and instructions on accelerating the construction of a space power, resolutely implement the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, innovate organizational models, attract commercial space companies to participate in major national missions, continuously support key technology breakthroughs, conduct special quality and safety inspections, and steadily and efficiently organize and promote the mission, ensuring the complete success of the Zhuque-3 reusable launch vehicle’s return-to-space mission. Next, the CNSA will continue to promote the engineering application of reusable launch vehicles in my country, effectively enhancing my country’s ability to access space with large capacity, low cost, and high frequency.
At this moment, Man Haifeng, general manager of Beichen Aerospace, stared intently at the fierce red flames spewing from the tail of the Zhuque. The pressurization and delivery system, which his team helped design, is like a smooth “blood vessel,” responsible for stably and reliably delivering the propellant in the tanks to the engine, allowing the Zhuque to flap its wings steadily.
Three years of hardship, countless emotions. Man Haifeng was at a loss for words. “Connecting hundreds of small pipes into a smooth ‘main artery’ required an extremely complex and meticulous design. In order to find the optimal solution, we scrapped and started over hundreds of times.”
At 7:38 a.m., after sending the second stage of the rocket into space, the Zhuque rocket returned shortly afterward. Its four grid fins spread like wings, the attitude control system emitted cool air, the engine adjusted its thrust, and the rocket precisely glided down along the coordinates.
“Rapid response and smooth control!” Zhang Yunlong, Minister of Marketing at Qingdao Zhiteng Microelectronics, clapped his hands. “We made hundreds of sensors and converters for Zhuque, and we can monitor its operating status in detail, just like sensory nerves.”
In its early years, Zhiteng developed “deep-sea nerves” for oil exploration at depths of tens of thousands of meters on the seabed. In 2015, it shifted its focus to serving commercial aerospace. After more than a decade of dedicated research, the 27-person R&D team has finally honed the two instruments that are located throughout the rocket body to the sharpness of an eagle’s eye.
At 7:44 a.m., the crowd watching from afar erupted in cheers for the steadily standing “divine bird” Vermilion Bird.
Wu Shufan, co-founder of LandSpace, academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, and professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, received a constant stream of congratulatory messages on WeChat.
“The recovery of the Zhuque satellite has reduced launch costs by orders of magnitude. The cost of launching a 1-kilogram satellite is expected to drop to 20,000 yuan.” He said, barely containing his excitement, “Rocket recovery technology is the jewel of the world’s aerospace industry. Blue Arrow spent a full 11 years to finally bring it to fruition.”
In the eyes of Commander-in-Chief Dai Zheng, the “divine” aspect of the Vermilion Bird goes far beyond its reusability—it signifies that China is fully capable of establishing a complete core technology chain and industrial foundation encompassing design, manufacturing, launch, and recovery.
“To get your own perfect score, you have to write out the solution yourself,” Dai Zheng said.
The morning light was still thick, and life was beginning to emerge on the Gobi Desert.
The Vermilion Bird, which had been standing upright, slowly lay down to undergo a “physical examination” in order to ensure that it could still fly “spirited and free” in the next flight.
As designed, it can take off multiple times. If it passes the “physical examination,” Zhuque will return to the launch site soon .
I. Core Breakthrough: First Orbit-Level Land Recovery
The Zhuque-3 Y2 mission achieved three “firsts” for China’s space program:
- Landing leg recovery : This marks the first time China has successfully recovered the first stage of a carrier rocket using landing legs, a departure from the previous Long March 10B’s method of using a net-like capture system on a sea platform.
- Orbital-stage recovery : This is China’s first carrier rocket to successfully enter orbit and achieve land recovery. The first stage returned from an altitude of over 100 kilometers and landed precisely on a 60-meter by 60-meter landing pad.
- A first for a private company : LandSpace has thus become the first private aerospace company in China to successfully recover the first stage of a liquid rocket.
II. Technical Approach: Practical Application of Reusing Liquid Oxygen, Methane, and Stainless Steel
The Zhuque-3 rocket adopted a hardware combination adapted for high-frequency reuse, thereby verifying the engineering feasibility of the “liquid oxygen and methane propellant + stainless steel rocket body structure + vertical recovery of landing legs” technology chain
- The rocket is 66.1 meters long and has a liftoff mass of approximately 570 tons. Its core stage is constructed from low-cost, high-temperature-resistant stainless steel. The liquid oxygen and methane fuel does not easily accumulate carbon after combustion, and the engine is easier to maintain after recovery, making it more suitable for reuse.
- During recovery, the first stage undergoes a series of processes: altitude attitude control, reentry ignition deceleration, aerodynamic gliding control, and final landing ignition. Its key component, the titanium alloy grid fin, acts as the “aerodynamic steering wheel” for the return phase, responsible for precise attitude control of the rocket
III. Economic Overview: The Era of 20,000 Yuan Per Kilogram
Successful recovery opens the door to significantly reducing rocket launch costs:
- The first stage accounts for about 70% of the hardware cost of a liquid rocket. If it can be reused, the hardware depreciation cost per launch will be greatly reduced.
- The first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket is designed to be reused at least 20 times, with the goal of reducing the launch cost per kilogram to below 20,000 RMB, a reduction of 70% to 90% compared to traditional expendable rockets. This low-cost launch capability is crucial for the future networking of tens of thousands of low-Earth orbit satellite
IMAGES AND VISUALS ARE FROM THEIR RESPECTIVES.
