SpaceX has been successfully landing the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket for the last decade. Doing so allows SpaceX to use a single booster for multiple missions, enabling it to slash launch costs and increase launch frequency.
Few other companies have made any real effort to emulate SpaceX’s feat with a first-stage booster, though Blue Origin just last month scored a first when it landed the main stage of its New Glenn rocket on its second try following a failed attempt at the start of the year.
New Zealand’s Rocket Lab is taking a different approach to booster recovery, developing a system that deploys parachutes on a descending booster to slow it down, before snagging the parachute line with a helicopter using a grappling hook and then flying it back to land. It’s yet to achieve the feat.
And now Chinese spaceflight firm LandSpace is having a go, although as you can see in the video below, its first attempt at landing the main stage of its new Zhuque-3 rocket ended in failure this week when the booster slammed into the ground at high speed.
The Zhuque-3 was on its maiden orbital test flight from Jiuquan in northwest China, and while the rocket successfully reached orbit, the booster landing failed to work out.
“An anomaly occurred after the first-stage engine ignited during the landing phase, preventing a soft landing on the designated recovery pad,” LandSpace said in a widely reported statement. “The debris landed at the edge of the recovery area, resulting in a failed recovery test.”
The team is now conducting a thorough review of what happened and will make changes to the system before trying again.
While disappointing for LandSpace, mishaps in spaceflight development are commonplace. SpaceX suffered many failed landings with its Falcon 9 booster before nailing it, and no doubt LandSpace will achieve the same feat before too long.
On a much bigger scale, SpaceX is also working on the landing process for its massive Starship rocket, which is still undergoing testing. On several of its test flights to date, the company has managed to bring home the Starship’s first-stage Super Heavy booster by securing it just above the ground using two large mechanical arms. If you’ve never witnessed it, the impressive maneuver is definitely worth a look.