At 12 noon yesterday, the Zhuque-3 reusable test rocket, which is developed by the private rocket company LandSpace Co., Ltd., completed a 10-kilometer vertical takeoff and landing flight test at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. "The Tianque series liquid oxygen methane engine used in the test rocket propulsion system was assembled in Huzhou," said Peng Wulong, the director of the comprehensive management department of Landspace Huzhou Propulsion Manufacturing Base, excitedly.
      It is reported that this test is an advanced verification of various key technologies for the vertical take-off and landing recovery of large-scale liquid oxygen methane reusable rockets, following the successful execution of the 100-meter-level flight test mission this January, laying an important technical foundation for the "first flight" of Zhuque-3 next year.
      In 2018, LandSpace invested and constructed a propulsion system manufacturing base in Huzhou. Last year, the Zhuque-2 Yao-2 carrier rocket, equipped with engines assembled at this base, was successfully launched, becoming the world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket to successfully enter orbit. This marks a breakthrough in the application of new low-cost liquid propellants for China's carrier rockets. It is reported that the test flight was completed by Landscape Zhuque-3 VTVL-1 test rocket, which was equipped with an 80-ton liquid oxygen methane engine that has been upgraded from the same type of engine of the Zhuque-2 rocket.
     As soon as the news of the successful completion of the test mission came, the Landscape Huzhou Propulsion Manufacturing Base, thousands of kilometers away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, is filled with cheers. Peng Wulong told the reporter that the test successfully verified the propellant management technology in the small overload section after the engine was shut down for the first time, and also verified the ability of the rocket engine to restart in the air after repeated use.