Zhuque 3 closer to commercial space flights

The successful 10-kilometer vertical takeoff and vertical landing test flight of Zhuque 3 VTVL-1 test rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gobi Desert on Wednesday marks a breakthrough in the nation's commercial space industry.

This way of launching and getting back a reusable rocket involves five stages — namely ascent, engine shutdown, unpowered gliding, in-flight engine restart to control speed of descent, and, lastly, soft landing. By conducting this test twice, the Zhuque 3 team has proved its ability to recycle rockets for use, thus lowering costs.

It's true that China still has a long way to go in the field of recycling rockets, compared with the United States' SpaceX project, which announced on Tuesday that it will carry out the fifth orbit test flight for Starship in November, in which they will attempt to recover the rocket booster by capturing it with the launch tower.