Zhuque-3

Design

The Zhuque-3E version is expected to become the family's workhorse. Its first stage uses nine Tianque-12B engines, five of which can gimbal while four are fixed; the stage is designed for recovery and reuse up to twenty times. The second stage employs a single TQ-15B engine. The rocket measures 76.2 meters in length, 4.5 meters in diameter, and has a liftoff weight of about 660 tonnes.

Payload to low Earth orbit is approximately 21 tonnes in expendable mode, 18.3 tonnes with downrange recovery, and 12.5 tonnes when returning to the launch site. The initial Zhuque-3 version, used on the first flight, is less powerful: about 66 meters long, 550 tonnes mass, and uses TQ-12A and TQ-15A engines. During landing, five engines relight for the initial burn, then downselect to three, and finally to the center engine until touchdown.

Development history

On 19 January 2024, LandSpace performed a vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) test with the Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 test vehicle at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC). The single-engine test stage flew for about 60 seconds, reached roughly 350 m altitude, and achieved a landing accuracy of about 2.4 m with a touchdown speed of approximately 0.75 m/s. A second VTVL test on 11 September 2024 lasted about 200 seconds and exceeded 10 km altitude.

It included a mid-air engine cutoff at about 113 seconds after liftoff and an engine reignition test about 40 seconds later at roughly 4640 m altitude, a first for any Chinese rocket manufacturer. During the engine-off glide, the stage used a cold gas attitude control system and four grid fins. It landed on a concrete pad about 3.2 km from the launch point, with a landing spot 1.7 m from the pad's nominal center. On 20 June 2025, LandSpace conducted a static fire of a Zhuque-3 booster test article (not flight-ready) at the JSLC launch pad.

The article, filled with propellant, had nine TQ-12A engines and generated a maximum of 769 tons of thrust during the 45-second test; the five gimbaling engines also performed tests. LandSpace declared the test completely successful.

Future plans

The Zhuque-3 rocket will carry the reusable Haolong cargo space shuttle, built by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under AVIC. This shuttle is one of two low-cost resupply vehicles chosen by CMSA for the Tiangong Space Station. The rocket is also set to launch missions for China's Guowang broadband communications megaconstellation.