Chinese private space-launch company, founded in 2015 by Zhang Changwu. One of China's leading private rocket firms, and the first non-American company to attempt returning a rocket stage to Earth for reuse.
In 2023 LandSpace launched ZQ-2 (Zhuque-2), the first rocket to reach orbit powered by methane and liquid oxygen—a propellant combination that burns cleaner than the standard kerosene and liquid oxygen, making recovered stages easier to refurbish for quick turnaround. Both Blue Origin and SpaceX use methane and liquid oxygen for their latest vehicles.
LandSpace's next rocket, ZQ-3 (Zhuque-3), is capable of lifting up to 21 tonnes to low-Earth orbit (though less if the first stage is to be reused). Its test firing from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on the border between Inner Mongolia and Gansu in December 2025 ended with the returning first stage exploding, though the non-reusable second stage reached orbit. The company said it had acquired "critical engineering data under the rocket's real flight conditions".
Kang Yonglai, who went on to found Space Pioneer, was formerly LandSpace's chief technology officer before leaving in 2019.
The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.