Ars Technica
• Stephen Clark
LandSpace successfully recovered the first-stage booster of its Zhuque-3 rocket after placing the Honghu-03 satellite into orbit. The milestone makes LandSpace the first Chinese commercial launch company to land an orbital-class booster and brings China’s private launch sector closer to operational reusability.
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LandSpace successfully recovered the first-stage booster of its Zhuque-3 rocket after placing the Honghu-03 satellite into orbit. The milestone makes LandSpace the first Chinese commercial launch company to land an orbital-class booster and brings China’s private launch sector closer to operational reusability.
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Chinese startup LandSpace successfully soft-landed the first stage of its methalox-fueled Zhuque-3 rocket after its second orbital launch from Jiuquan on August 18. The achievement places LandSpace among the few private companies to recover an orbital-class booster and advances China’s reusable-launch ambitions.
Two additional Chinese airlines have publicly expressed interest in operating the COMAC C919, expanding the pool of potential customers for the narrowbody jet. The aircraft manufacturer is nevertheless unable to supply interested operators at the pace it had planned, highlighting continued constraints in the program’s production ramp-up.
Shenzhen Airlines and Loong Air are evaluating the addition of COMAC C919s to their fleets, according to executive comments reported from an aviation forum in Guangzhou. Any future commitments would broaden the C919’s customer base among China’s major domestic carriers and strengthen its position in the Chinese market.
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The week of Aug. 17-23 will feature three SpaceX Starlink launches alongside China’s second test flight of the partially reusable ZhuQue-3 launcher and the robotic Chang’e 7 lunar mission. The schedule marks China’s return to launch activity after the previous week’s Chang Zheng 7A failure.
China’s space program returned to flight on Aug. 16 with back-to-back launches of Long March 12 and Long March 2C rockets, less than a week after a Long March 7A exploded. The missions marked an immediate restart of launch activity following the failure.
China launched a new batch of Guowang megaconstellation satellites over the weekend, using a Long March 12 shortly after a Long March 7A failure. A separate Long March 2C mission carried a developmental satellite for the United Arab Emirates, highlighting continued launch activity across multiple vehicle families.
A new chronology, detailed data on the moon’s far side and a homegrown cartographic standard point to China’s expanding ambitions in lunar science and space mapping. The effort goes beyond technological showcase, signaling an attempt to establish influence over how celestial bodies are documented and understood.
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