• LandSpace's ZhuQue-3 achieved China's first land-based reusable booster recovery, following CASC's sea recovery of a Long March 10B booster in July.

  • The ZQ-3's design closely resembles SpaceX's Falcon 9, using stainless steel construction that LandSpace claims is cheaper to produce.

  • Reusable boosters could accelerate China's military space expansion, which already includes about 1,900 satellites, up from fewer than 100 in 2013.