\n LandSpace\u2019s Wednesday attempt was an \u201cimpressive\u201d feat that appeared to be upwards of \u201c90% successful,\u201d according to space expert Blaine Curcio, founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt looks like it was really a largely successful attempt, and that there\u2019s either a structural issue or an igniter issue, or an engine issue. That will take some time to fix, but it will not take years to fix,\u201d Curcio said, pointing to how the rocket came down close to its expected landing zone.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAll of those things are generally good signs for the maturity of the commercial space sector in China,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n
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\n LandSpace\u2019s ambitions have been closely watched by competitors at home and abroad, with Musk commenting on the Zhuque-3 launch preparations in recent months.\n <\/p>\n
\n Musk posted on X in October that the company had \u201cadded aspects\u201d of his vehicle Starship \u201cto a Falcon 9 architecture, which would enable it to beat Falcon 9,\u201d referring to SpaceX\u2019s reusable launch vehicle.\n <\/p>\n
\n But he also predicted it would take the company \u201cover 5 years to reach Falcon 9 levels of reliability and production\/launch rate.\u201d By that time \u201cSpaceX will have transitioned to Starship and be doing over 100 times the annual payload to orbit of Falcon,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n
\n Starship, the most powerful rocket ever constructed, remains under development but is meant to be \u201cfully reusable\u201d \u2013 meaning SpaceX intends to also return and reuse the upper stage of the rocket, which has never been done before.\n <\/p>\n
\n Landspace, however, has lofty ambitions, too.\n <\/p>\n
\n In an interview with Chinese state media in 2023, LandSpace founder and CEO Zhang Changwu acknowledged that China\u2019s commercial rocket development \u201cstill lags behind SpaceX,\u201d but if the company continues in the \u201cright development direction\u201d they would \u201cone day be able to match SpaceX\u2019s capabilities.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Zhang also told state media last year that from 2026 the firm would begin undertaking spacecraft launch missions for China\u2019s Tiangong Space Station. That would be a first in terms of commercial spaceflight supporting national missions \u2013 and make having a reusable system even more critical.\n <\/p>\n
\n The firm has already marked other major successes, including the world\u2019s first successful orbital launch of its Zhuque-2 methane-liquid oxygen rocket in 2023, beating international rivals also developing rockets with what\u2019s seen as a cleaner-burning and more efficient fuel. (SpaceX\u2019s Starship is also powered by methane, but the vehicle so far has only flown suborbital test flights.)\n <\/p>\n
\n LandSpace is among a handful of Chinese firms that are developing reusable rocket technology. Commercial firms \u2013 with Beijing\u2019s blessing \u2013 have become an increasingly important part of China\u2019s space innovation, mirroring a model that\u2019s seen success in the US.\n <\/p>\n
\n That industry development comes as leader Xi Jinping in recent years has highlighted the aerospace sector as a \u201cstrategic emerging industry,\u201d with the country\u2019s upcoming five-year plan expected to include a focus on accelerating the development of the country into a \u201cstrong aerospace nation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Over the past decade, multiple private firms have conducted orbital launch missions, and several developers have conducted initial land tests of reusable rocket technology.\n <\/p>\n
\n Both state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology\u2019s Long March 12A and private firm Space Pioneer\u2019s Tianlong-3 are thought to be close to attempting their own orbital test flights of reusable rockets, according to state media reports.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cFrom 2015 up to this year 2025, exactly 10 years, China\u2019s commercial space sector has essentially gone from nothing to a new critical point,\u201d Liu Yuzhang, director of Taibo Research Institute, a Chinese think tank focusing on aerospace industries, told CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n On Monday, the country\u2019s space authority announced that it had established a new internal department to oversee and develop its commercial space sector.\n <\/p>\n