Chinese Reusable Booster Explodes During First Orbital Test (cnn.com)
(Thursday December 04, 2025 @05:10AM (BeauHD)
from the practice-makes-perfect dept.)
[1]schwit1 shares a report from CNN:
> A private Chinese space firm successfully sent its Zhuque-3 rocket to orbit but failed in its historic attempt to re-land the rocket booster Wednesday -- the [2]first such trial by a Chinese firm as the country's growing commercial space sector races to catch up with American rivals like SpaceX. The rocket entered orbit as planned, but its first stage [3]did not successfully return to a landing site , instead crashing down, the company said in a statement.
>
> "An anomaly occurred after the first-stage engine ignited during the landing phase, preventing a soft landing on the designated recovery pad," the statement said. "The debris landed at the edge of the recovery area, resulting in a failed recovery test." The team would "conduct a comprehensive review" and continue to "advance the verification and application of reusable rocket technology in future missions," the statement added.
You can watch a video of the launch and subsequent crash [4]here .
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/03/0457240/landspace-could-become-chinas-first-company-to-land-a-reusable-rocket
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/science/zhuque-3-launch-china-reusable-rocket-intl-hnk
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/science/video/china-rocket-crash-zhuque-landspace-vrtc-ldn-digvid
> A private Chinese space firm successfully sent its Zhuque-3 rocket to orbit but failed in its historic attempt to re-land the rocket booster Wednesday -- the [2]first such trial by a Chinese firm as the country's growing commercial space sector races to catch up with American rivals like SpaceX. The rocket entered orbit as planned, but its first stage [3]did not successfully return to a landing site , instead crashing down, the company said in a statement.
>
> "An anomaly occurred after the first-stage engine ignited during the landing phase, preventing a soft landing on the designated recovery pad," the statement said. "The debris landed at the edge of the recovery area, resulting in a failed recovery test." The team would "conduct a comprehensive review" and continue to "advance the verification and application of reusable rocket technology in future missions," the statement added.
You can watch a video of the launch and subsequent crash [4]here .
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/03/0457240/landspace-could-become-chinas-first-company-to-land-a-reusable-rocket
[3] https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/science/zhuque-3-launch-china-reusable-rocket-intl-hnk
[4] https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/science/video/china-rocket-crash-zhuque-landspace-vrtc-ldn-digvid