LandSpace becomes China's first private rocket landing

A Chinese rocket landed itself on four legs Wednesday, the way SpaceX's Falcon 9 does. LandSpace launched its Zhuque-3 rocket from the Gobi Desert. It reached orbit, then guided the booster back down for a soft landing. It's the first time any private Chinese company has landed an orbital-class booster this way. LandSpace's first attempt, in an earlier flight, ended when the booster exploded.

SpaceX has landed and reused rockets routinely since 2015. That's why its launches got so much cheaper — you don't throw away a multi-million-dollar booster every flight. China's space companies want that same cost advantage. LandSpace, unlike China's state-run rocket program, is a private company. It's taking the same approach SpaceX did: launch, sometimes lose a booster, and try again until it works.

Keep reading — what to watch

Will China catch up to SpaceX's reuse record? Not yet. SpaceX has landed boosters hundreds of times. LandSpace has done it once, after one earlier failure. But the gap is closing faster than most expected. If more private Chinese rocket companies start landing boosters routinely, launches could get a lot cheaper across China's space industry.