Chinese reusable booster explodes during first orbital test, in failed bid to catch SpaceX

A Chinese reusable booster explodes in historic first orbital test in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, China, on December 3, 2025. LandSpace Beijing —

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 first such trial by a Chinese firm as the country’s growing commercial space sector races to catch up with American rivals like SpaceX.

Beijing-based LandSpace, one of the sector’s leading firms, launched its Zhuque-3 rocket into space from a remote, desert launch site in northwestern China.

The rocket entered orbit as planned, but its first stage – the portion of the vehicle that propels it at liftoff – did not successfully return to a landing site, instead crashing down, the comp