China successfully completes first ground‑based rocket booster recovery operation
On Wednesday morning, China successfully completed its first ground‑based rocket booster recovery operation after eight months of careful failure analysis, marking a major breakthrough in the country’s reusable rocket technology.
Success rarely comes on the first attempt. Behind it lie months of intense work, error analysis and the courage to keep going. When a rocket explodes just three kilometres from the launch pad, it is easier to give up than to find the strength to continue. But it is precisely such moments that test a team’s resilience and separate a true breakthrough from mere luck. Eight months of analysis, dozens of hypotheses, hundreds of tests — and yesterday’s failure became the foundation for today’s triumph. This is not just a story about technology, but about the human spirit, about belief in one’s cause and the perseverance that drives progress forward.
China launched the reusable rocket Zhuque‑3 on Wednesday at 07:35 (Beijing time) from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone in northwest China. The first and second stages separated about 137 seconds after liftoff. The first stage then entered the designated return phase and performed a series of key manoeuvres, including altitude‑flight attitude adjustment, re‑entry braking, controlled aerodynamic gliding, deceleration and landing‑leg deployment.
The ground recovery operation went according to plan: the first stage landed safely at the designated site in Minqin County, Gansu Province, in northwest China. The second stage continued its flight and placed the onboard Honghu‑03 satellite into its target orbit. The flight was a complete success.
The situation was entirely different on 3 December last year, when a returning rocket was just three kilometres from the launch site before the incident occurred. “The rocket was very close to the ground when it exploded, just three kilometres away from us, so it fell to the ground very quickly, leaving us no time to react,” said Dai Zheng, commander of the Zhuque‑3. The mission’s assessment as “generally successful” was seen by observers as consolation, but for Dai and his team, it meant one step forward towards achieving ground‑based rocket recovery.
“During the first attempt, the team felt relatively calm because we knew this was China’s first attempt at recovering a rocket on the ground, and that failure was possible. Since we still had the potential for further efforts, we thought that a ‘generally successful’ mission, which was just one step away from success, would motivate us to push forward. But before the second launch, huge pressure built up, and there were subtle changes in our mindset — how many failures would we have to endure before finally succeeding?” said Dai. “It took eight months to complete the failure analysis.”
They compiled a list of all possible causes of the incident and investigated them one by one. “We listed all the possible failure causes that could have led to the incident. There were dozens, and we looked at each one. It was an exhaustive method. First we listed all the possibilities, then we used flight data, simulations and ground tests to determine whether they could have been the cause,” said Dai.
The team also made numerous improvements, including reducing the number of engines used for landing from five to three, significantly lowering system complexity. “The final deceleration was simply magnificent — the rocket stopped smoothly at the landing site at supersonic speed. I think our team finally withstood the pressure and proved its worth,” said Dai.
Reusable rockets are the key to lowering the cost of space launches and commercialising space. China is actively developing this area to catch up with global leaders such as SpaceX. The Zhuque‑3 rocket was developed by the private company LandSpace, one of the pioneers of China’s commercial space sector. The successful recovery of the first stage at a ground site is a crucial step towards a fully reusable system that will allow China to compete in the global launch services market.
As CCTV+ reports, the first successful ground recovery of a rocket booster opens a new chapter in China’s space history. The eight months between failure and triumph became a time of courage and perseverance. Now the team has not only the technology but also the confidence that any failure is just a stepping stone to victory. Ahead lie new launches, new tests and, without a doubt, new records.
