--- title: China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX description: Chinese startup LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, becoming the third private company after SpaceX and Blue Origin to... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX | daily.dev og:description: Chinese startup LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, becoming the third private company after SpaceX and Blue Origin to... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/8hWW0ITdP.png og:image:alt: China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Chinese startup LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, becoming the third private company after SpaceX and Blue Origin to land an orbital-class booster. The stainless-steel, methane-fueled rocket can lift 14.2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit versus the Falcon 9's 22.8 tons, and LandSpace aims to reuse the booster up to 20 times. The landing boosts investor confidence ahead of LandSpace's planned IPO on Shanghai's Star Market, targeting C¥7.5-billion in funding and profitability by 2029. This marks China's fourth orbital booster recovery attempt and its first successful ground-based, leg-landed recovery. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does the LandSpace Zhuque-3 rocket compare to SpaceX's Falcon 9? The Zhuque-3 is made of stainless steel rather than the Falcon 9's aluminium-lithium alloy, offering greater heat resistance and lower production costs, and it runs on methane and liquid oxygen instead of kerosene and liquid oxygen. It can lift 14.2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit versus the Falcon 9's 22.8 tons, and LandSpace aims to reuse its booster up to 20 times. _Developers tracking the commercial space and aerospace tech race can follow updates like this on daily.dev._ ### Which private companies have successfully landed an orbital-class rocket booster? SpaceX, Blue Origin, and China's LandSpace are the only private companies to have landed an orbital-class booster. LandSpace achieved this with its Zhuque-3 rocket on its second landing attempt, following an earlier December 2025 test where the rocket reached orbit but the first stage failed to land in a controlled manner. _Space tech enthusiasts comparing industry milestones can keep up with such developments on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [A spectacular explosion shows China is close to obtaining reusable rockets](https://daily.dev/posts/a-spectacular-explosion-shows-china-is-close-to-obtaining-reusable-rockets-z3zw6xvgn) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [China lands a reusable rocket booster for the first time](https://daily.dev/posts/china-lands-a-reusable-rocket-booster-for-the-first-time-svcvftedq) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [China nets a falling rocket in reusability race with SpaceX](https://daily.dev/posts/china-nets-a-falling-rocket-in-reusability-race-with-spacex-ajzzhl7fv) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [China is catching up to Elon Musk's reusable rockets](https://daily.dev/posts/china-is-catching-up-to-elon-musk-s-reusable-rockets-qjdolx8hm) · TechCrunch · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#spacex](https://daily.dev/tags/spacex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp"},"datePublished":"2026-08-19T05:50:28.149Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T16:25:52.095Z","description":"Chinese startup LandSpace successfully recovered the first stage of its Zhuque-3 rocket, becoming the third private company after SpaceX and Blue Origin to...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0915e2760b96ec64e2ac2f639057f54b?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/0915e2760b96ec64e2ac2f639057f54b?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCentral","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCentral","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--RsqLDZrL--/f_auto/v1717745297/logos/techcentral","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"spacex","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCentral","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"China can now land rocket boosters, just like SpaceX"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/china-can-now-land-rocket-boosters-just-like-spacex-8hww0itdp#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does the LandSpace Zhuque-3 rocket compare to SpaceX's Falcon 9?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Zhuque-3 is made of stainless steel rather than the Falcon 9's aluminium-lithium alloy, offering greater heat resistance and lower production costs, and it runs on methane and liquid oxygen instead of kerosene and liquid oxygen. It can lift 14.2 metric tons to low-Earth orbit versus the Falcon 9's 22.8 tons, and LandSpace aims to reuse its booster up to 20 times. Developers tracking the commercial space and aerospace tech race can follow updates like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which private companies have successfully landed an orbital-class rocket booster?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SpaceX, Blue Origin, and China's LandSpace are the only private companies to have landed an orbital-class booster. LandSpace achieved this with its Zhuque-3 rocket on its second landing attempt, following an earlier December 2025 test where the rocket reached orbit but the first stage failed to land in a controlled manner. Space tech enthusiasts comparing industry milestones can keep up with such developments on daily.dev."}}]} ```