China’s Zhuque-3 Y-2 rocket lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China on Wednesday morning, successfully placing the Honghu-03 satellite into its designated orbit.
The land recovery sequence of the first stage was completed as intended, according to rocket developer LandSpace, and the flight and recovery test mission was a complete success.
Following the separation of the first and second stages, the first stage entered its scheduled return phase and completed a series of key maneuvers, including high-altitude return attitude adjustment, powered deceleration during re-entry, aerodynamic glide control, powered deceleration for landing, and deployment and cushioning of its landing legs.
The first stage ultimately landed steadily at the designated landing site using its landing legs, completing a systematic verification of the entire process of returning the vehicle from high-speed flight to a land-based landing site in Minqin County, northwest China’s Gansu Province.
The mission marked China’s first successful flight verification of first-stage land recovery for a reusable launch vehicle, as well as the country’s first successful verification of a landing using deployable landing legs.
Based on data obtained from previous flight tests and accumulated engineering experience, the development team made a number of targeted improvements to key reusable-flight technologies for the mission.
The landing propulsion system was optimized by reducing the number of engines used for the landing burn, further simplifying the system design. The onboard autonomous flight safety system was equipped with a new predicted landing-point safety-control function, while return-control strategies were optimized to improve safety and autonomous control during the recovery flight.
In response to the complex aerodynamic and thermal environment encountered during atmospheric re-entry, the team also improved the rocket’s ability to withstand extreme aerodynamic and thermal loads and enhanced its protective design.
Meanwhile, in line with the characteristics of the satellite-carrying mission, the team made adaptive improvements to the satellite separation system and related interfaces, and conducted verification of a self-developed satellite stacking and compression device.
Zhuque-3 is a new-generation reusable liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicle independently developed by LandSpace. The company has established a technology system focused on reusable launch vehicles, covering overall vehicle design, propulsion systems, return control, stainless-steel vehicle-body manufacturing and ground support.
The mission has laid a solid foundation for subsequent inspection and maintenance of the recovered stage, reusable flights and the commercial application of reusable launch vehicles, according to LandSpace.
