🔎 This story is still developing. We will update it as we learn more!
China’s Rocket Company Tries Again — Can It Stick the Landing?
Quick Summary
A Chinese company called Landspace is attempting something amazing tonight. It wants to launch a rocket into orbit and then land the bottom part safely back on Earth. This is only the second time Landspace has tried — and the whole world is watching.
What Happened?
Launch is scheduled for Monday evening, August 10, from a spaceport in northwestern China’s Gansu desert.
The rocket is called the Zhuque-3. In Chinese, “Zhuque” means “Vermillion Bird,” a mythical firebird from ancient legend. The rocket is 251 feet tall — about as tall as a 25-story building — and it burns methane fuel mixed with liquid oxygen.
Here is what makes this mission so special. When a rocket launches a satellite, it normally falls apart or burns up on the way back down. That means you have to build a brand-new rocket every single time. That is very expensive.
Landspace wants to change that. Their plan is for the rocket’s big bottom section — called the first stage or booster — to fly back and land on its own legs, just like a giant metal bug touching down on a runway. If the booster can be caught and reused, launches become much cheaper.
Right now, only one company in the world does this reliably: SpaceX. Its Falcon 9 rocket has pulled off this trick hundreds of times. Landspace is trying to become the second company ever to master the trick.
Landspace’s first try came in December 2025. The top part of the rocket reached orbit perfectly. But the booster tumbled and exploded during its landing attempt. Landspace spent months studying what went wrong. They fixed the systems, ran a full engine test in June 2026, and now they are ready to try again.
China’s government rockets have also been practicing. In July 2026, a different Chinese rocket called the Long March 10B became the first Chinese rocket ever to successfully land its booster. That success gave the whole country a boost of confidence.
Landspace’s approach is a little different. Instead of catching the booster with robotic arms the way some rockets do, it plans to use landing legs — the same style as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. It’s like trying to balance a pencil upright on your finger, but from space.
Why Does It Matter?
Reusable rockets are one of the biggest ideas in modern space science. Think of it this way: planes fly hundreds of trips before they retire. Rockets used to be thrown away after just one flight. Reusable rockets could make launching satellites — and eventually people — as routine as catching a flight.
If Landspace succeeds tonight, it will show that more and more countries and companies can build this technology. That means more science, more satellites for weather and navigation, and one day, more pathways for people to reach space.
Because the launch is happening late in the day (7:45 p.m. in New York, which is early morning on August 11 in China), results may not be known until overnight. Check back for updates!
Big Words
- Booster — the big bottom section of a rocket that holds most of the engines and fuel
- Reusable rocket — a rocket designed to fly back and land safely so it can be used again
- Orbit — the curved path a spacecraft follows as it travels around Earth
- Methane — a type of gas used as rocket fuel, the same kind that can be found in natural gas
- Spaceport — a special launch site where rockets take off
Fun Fact
The Zhuque-3 rocket is made of stainless steel — the same shiny metal used to make kitchen sinks and water bottles! Engineers chose it because it stays strong even at very high temperatures.
Think About It
If rockets could be reused like airplanes, how do you think that might change life on Earth? What kinds of new things could people do if getting to space became much cheaper?
Sources
- Space.com — Chinese company Landspace targets Aug. 10 for historic rocket launch and landing attempt
- NewsNetworks / Space.com — Chinese company Landspace targets Aug. 10 for historic rocket launch and landing attempt
- Reuters / AOL — China’s LandSpace hopes to complete rocket recovery in mid-2026
- KeepTrack Space X-Report — SpaceX Brief 2026-08-08