China's Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation has promised to launch three new rockets this year alone and may also begin sending reusable boosters into space next year.
China's reusable Zhuque-3 rocket conducts its first test flight!
Chinese media reports that Corp R&D chief Wang Wei revealed this week that Beijing is preparing a pair of reusable products. One will have a diameter of four meters, the other will reach five. By contrast, the SpaceX Falcon has a diameter of 3.7 meters and its Starship rounds out at nine meters, while NASA's Space Launch System is 8.4 meters across.
This isn't just a "mine is bigger than yours" contest. Diameter is an indication of a launch vehicle's potential payload volume, but not necessarily the mass it can lift. Exactly what capacity these boosters will add to China's space program is therefore unclear.
Wei promised that the smaller of the two will launch in 2025, with the large booster to follow a year later.
