China Tech Review 2025: Reusable Rockets "just got real"

China Tech Review 2025: Reusable Rockets "just got real"

Reusable rockets are no longer a spectacle. This year saw them gradually transform into a piece of infrastructure with China emerging as a strong competitor in the race for space transport vehicles.

December 2025 featured two significant spaceflights. LandSpace's Zhuque-3 and the state-backed Long March-12A each completed their maiden missions carrying satellites to orbit.

The Long March 12A (LM-12A or CZ-12A), is a Chinese reusable medium-lift launch vehicle carrier rocket. The rocket has two stages and its first stage is designed to be reused after stage-recovery via propulsive landing. Both stages of the rocket use methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX) for propulsion. The rocket is manufactured by Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST).

The first flight occurred on December 23, 2025 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) with a successful orbital launch but the first-stage recovery was unsuccessful.

By comparison, SpaceX's first landing test occurred in September 2013 on the sixth flight of a Falcon 9 and maiden launch of the v1.1 rocket version. Between 2013 to 2016, sixteen test flights were conducted, only six of these achieved a soft landing and recovery of the first-stage booster. 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has commented on the Landspace Zhuque-3's design: "They have added aspects of Starship, such as use of stainless steel and methalox, to a Falcon 9 architecture, which would enable it to beat Falcon 9 . . ."

Video Credit: CGTN
Duration: 3 minutes
Release Date: Dec. 27, 2025

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