LandSpace Zhuque-3 Y2 Faces Critical Technical Hurdles Ahead of Reuse Attempt
Summary: LandSpaces Zhuque-3 Y2 faces critical technical hurdles before its reusable rocket launch attempt, with the report detailing engineering challenges the team is working to overcome.
On June 29, 2026, LandSpace completed a static fire test of its Zhuque-3 Y2 launch vehicle at the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. The test marks a critical ground verification milestone ahead of the vehicles planned flight recovery attempt.
Zhuque-3 is a large liquid oxygen-methane reusable launch vehicle built by LandSpace, featuring a stainless steel tank architecture and designed to achieve first-stage vertical landing. The previous Zhuque-3 Y1 mission failed to achieve a successful landing, exposing technical gaps across multiple phases including retropropulsion, landing leg deployment, and precision guidance and control. According to Pandaily, the engineering team is actively working to resolve these issues, with efforts spanning engine re-ignition reliability, aerodynamic deceleration and grid fin control strategies, and attitude stabilization during the landing phase.
Reusable rocketry remains one of the most technically demanding challenges in the launch industry. Globally, only SpaceXs Falcon 9 has achieved mature commercial-grade reusability. As one of Chinas more advanced private launch companies, LandSpace stands to extract significant design insights from every Zhuque-3 flight test. Whether Y2 can achieve a soft landing has yet to be determined, and the launch window is subject to official confirmation.
The road to reusability is far from smooth, but the successful static fire test confirms that the propulsion system baseline is operational, and subsequent flight demonstrations will be worth monitoring closely.