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launchseismic2026-09-01

Galactic Energy launches Pallas-1 on debut flight from Jiuquan

China's Galactic Energy flew its new Pallas-1 rocket for the first time, reaching orbit on a test flight with no customer payload.

Galactic Energy launched the Pallas-1 Y1 rocket on its maiden flight from the Dongfeng commercial space site at Jiuquan on September 1 at 10:00 a.m. Beijing time (02:00 UTC), carrying no customer or internal payload; both stages separated normally and the second stage reached its target sun-synchronous orbit, completing the flight's test objectives, per Xinhua and China-in-Space. No booster-recovery hardware was installed on this flight; Galactic Energy said the debut completes the first of a three-step plan toward routinely reusing the first stage, which the company says will progress to a controlled descent and an eventual first-stage landing on future flights, per China-in-Space.

Galactic Energy4 sources →
launchseismic2026-08-18

LandSpace lands Zhuque-3 booster on second flight, a China first

LandSpace landed Zhuque-3's booster on its second flight, a China first, but the recovered stage later tipped over on the pad.

LandSpace launched its Zhuque-3 rocket on its second flight from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 23:35 UTC on Aug. 18, carrying a prototype LEO communications satellite for its subsidiary Hongqing Technology, per SpaceNews, Space.com and NASASpaceflight. About 137 seconds after stage separation, the first stage completed a powered vertical landing on deployable legs roughly 390 km downrange in Minqin County, Gansu province, becoming the first Chinese company to recover an orbital-class booster and the first recovery in China using landing legs rather than net capture. Zhuque-3's December 2025 debut flight reached orbit, but its booster crashed during an earlier landing attempt. LandSpace said the mission moves Zhuque-3 "from the technological demonstration and verification phase toward the engineering application phase of reusability," per Space.com. LandSpace was targeting a reflight of the recovered booster within six months, a company representative told SpaceNews. Days later, the booster tipped over on the recovery pad: a fire broke out near its base during propellant offloading and one of its four landing legs failed, per NASASpaceflight and China in Space. China in Space reported the fall damaged the interstage and both propellant tanks and deformed two of the booster's nine Tianque-12A engine nozzles.

LandSpace7 sources →
launchseismic2026-07-10

China recovers Long March 10B first stage on maiden flight

China's Long March 10B flew for the first time and recovered its first stage at sea, the second country to do so.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) launched the Long March 10B on its maiden flight from the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site early July 10, carrying a satellite that reached its planned orbit, per SpaceNews and Space.com. About six minutes after stage separation, the first stage returned vertically and was captured by a net system aboard a sea-based recovery platform, the vessel Linghang Zhe, roughly 11 minutes after liftoff, per CASC's own statement quoted by Space.com. CASC said it intends to reuse the recovered stage before the end of 2026.

CASC4 sources →

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