---
title: "China lands a rocket's first stage on solid ground for the first time: landing gear instead of a sea platform"
description: "On August 19, China successfully landed the first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket on solid ground for the first time in history using deployable landing gear, strengthening its position in the race for reusable launch vehicles."
date: 2026-08-19T23:06:24.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/china-lands-rocket-first-stage-on-solid-ground-for-the-first-time
tags: [china, space, reusable-rocket, zhuque-3, space-race]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# China lands a rocket's first stage on solid ground for the first time: landing gear instead of a sea platform

![Launch of a Chinese rocket whose first stage is designed to land on solid ground using landing legs instead of a sea platform](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/20/kitay-uspeshno-prizemlil-raketu-zhuque-3-na-zemlyu/kitay-uspeshno-prizemlil-raketu-zhuque-3-na-zemlyu-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- On August 19, 2026, the first stage of the Zhuque-3 rocket successfully landed on solid ground using deployable landing gear — a first for China.
- On July 10, 2026, the Long March-10B stage was returned to a sea platform using a net system.
- Reusability is seen as the key to reducing launch costs; SpaceX and Blue Origin have been using it since 2015.
- Sources contain discrepancies: successes with Zhuque-3 and Long March coexist with reports of failures of other vehicles (Chang Zheng-12A, etc.).

According to the Xinhua news agency, on August 19, 2026, the reusable rocket Zhuque-3 was successfully launched, and its first stage landed on solid ground. The key feature of this launch was the use of a deployable landing gear system to return the stage to Earth — according to the agency, this is the first time in the history of Chinese spaceflight that such technology has been used. Footage from the launch site captured a characteristic column of flame and a vast cloud of dust rising over the desert pad, which is typical of ground-based landing maneuvers.

### A historic shift from sea to land

The achievement is a logical continuation of China's series of stage-recovery experiments. Just over a month earlier, on July 10, the first stage of the Long March-10B rocket was returned to a sea platform and lifted using a net system — at that time, China carried out such a sea "catch" of a stage for the first time in history. The transition from a sea platform to a ground landing on landing gear means that the country is mastering a more complex, technology-intensive scenario, close to the approaches used in the commercial sector.

### Timeline and technological logic

Reusable rocket technology is regarded by the industry as a key factor in significantly reducing the cost of space exploration: reusing stages allows the cost of each launch to be cut. For context, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin have been operating launch vehicles with reusable stages since 2015, meaning China is more than a decade behind in the industrial application of this technology, but in 2026 it is demonstrating an accelerated catch-up trajectory.

### Contradictory data

The news flow around Chinese reusable launch vehicles features diverging accounts. On the one hand, Xinhua and a number of regional outlets report a successful ground return of the Zhuque-3 stage and a successful sea landing of the Long March-10B/10A. On the other hand, certain sources (in particular, 3dnews.ru) report the failure of a second attempt with the Chang Zheng-12A rocket, whose reusable first stage, according to them, crashed, while focus.ua describes the fall to Earth of the first state reusable rocket after launch. Thus, successes and failures relate to different vehicles and different launches, and they should not be mixed: the confirmed fact remains the ground landing of Zhuque-3, while the fate of a number of other experimental stages is disputed or described as unsuccessful.

### Strategic implications for the global market

The new achievement brings China closer to the goal of industrializing reusable rocket technology against the backdrop of growing competition on launch cost and capability in the global space market. The ability to land a stage on solid ground with landing gear opens the way to more frequent reuse and, as a result, to price pressure on commercial customers. For the global market, this means that in the coming years competition in the launch segment may cease to be a duopoly and turn into a multipolar race, with China as a full-fledged participant.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [China successfully returned the first stage of its ground rocket to Earth.](https://www.vietnam.vn/ru/trung-quoc-lan-dau-thu-hoi-thanh-cong-tang-ten-lua-tren-dat-lien) - Согласуется с версией Синьхуа об успешном наземном возврате ступени.
- [China fails second attempt to catch up with SpaceX — reusable first stage of the Chang Zheng-12A rocket ...](https://3dnews.ru/1134331/kitay-provalil-vtoruyu-popitku-dognat-spacex-mnogorazovaya-pervaya-stupen-raketi-chanchgen12a-razbilas) - Сообщает о неудаче другого носителя (Чанчжэн-12А); относится к иному пуску, не опровергает Жуцюэ-3.
- [China tests partially reusable Long March-10A rocket with sea landing of the first stage](https://overclockers.ru/blog/Global_Chronicles/show/249658/Kitaj-ispytal-chastichno-mnogorazovuju-raketu-Long-March-10A-s-posadkoj-pervoj-stupeni-v-more) - Подтверждает морскую посадку ступени в контексте июльских испытаний.
- [China's first state reusable rocket fell to Earth after launch into space (video)](https://focus.ua/technologies/737947-pervaya-gosudarstvennaya-mnogorazovaya-raketa-kitaya-upala-na-zemlyu-posle-zapuska-v-kosmos-video) - Описывает падение государственного носителя; иной сценарий, чем успешная Жуцюэ-3.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What exactly happened on August 19, 2026?
**A:** According to Xinhua, the reusable rocket Zhuque-3 was launched, and its first stage successfully landed on solid ground using a deployable landing gear system — a first for China.

### Q: How does this launch differ from the July one?
**A:** On July 10, the Long March-10B stage was returned to a sea platform using a net system, whereas on August 19 the Zhuque-3 stage landed on the ground on landing gear — a more complex ground scenario.

### Q: Are there contradictions in the reports?
**A:** Yes. A number of sources record failures of other vehicles (for example, the Chang Zheng-12A and the fall of a state rocket), but these are different launches and do not refute the confirmed success of Zhuque-3.