Chinesischer wiederverwendbarer Booster explodiert beim ersten Orbitaltest, bei dem gescheiterten Versuch, SpaceX einzufangen

A private Chinese space firm successfully sent its Zhuque-3 rocket to orbit but failed in its historic attempt to re-land the rocket booster Wednesday – the first such trial by a Chinese firm as the country’s growing commercial space sector races to catch up with American rivals like SpaceX.

Beijing-based LandSpace, one of the sector’s leading firms, launched its Zhuque-3 rocket into space from a remote, desert launch site in northwestern China.

The rocket entered orbit as planned, but its first stage – the portion of the vehicle that propels it at liftoff – did not successfully return to a landing site, instead crashing down, the company said in a statement.

“An anomaly occurred after the first-stage engine ignited during the landing phase, preventing a soft landing on the designated recovery pad,” the statement said. “The debris landed at the edge of the recovery area, resulting in a failed recovery test.”

Even though unsuccessful, the trial has placed the company at the head of a pack of Chinese firms vying to develop reusable rocket technology within a growing commercial space sector that Beijing hopes will power its competition with global rivals and help transform the country into a “strong aerospace nation.”