Launches / Zhuque-3

Past launch Launched successfully

Demo Flight

Zhuque-3, flown by LandSpace

Zhuque-3 lifting off with the Demo Flight mission
Image via The Space Devs.

This was LandSpace's third launch of 2025, and its eighth in all.

Counting every operator, it was the 289th orbital launch attempt anywhere in 2025, and the first from Launch Area 96B.

Launched
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, 4:00 a.m. UTC
Window
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025, 3:52 to 4:49 a.m. UTC
Launch site
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China
Rocket
Zhuque-3
Operator
LandSpace

The 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.

Type
Test flight
Destination
Low Earth orbit

The rocket

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.

The operator

LandSpace

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

Sector
Commercial
Based in
China
Founded
2015
Run by
Zhang Changwu, Founder

11 launches so far, 8 of them successful. The last 4 in a row went to plan.

Wikipedia →

The launch site

It went up from Launch Area 96B at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China.

See the pad on a map →

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