Cosmoleap

Yueqian-1

In Development

Two-stage, methane-liquid oxygen reusable rocket whose first stage is recovered by a ground 'chopstick' tower-catch system rather than landing legs - China's first such design, modeled on SpaceX's Mechazilla. Roughly 70 m tall and 4.2 m in diameter with a nine-engine first stage. The company also publishes a Flint-1 (Huoshi-1) flight computer and the recovery tower as supporting hardware on its product list.

Cosmoleap profileSource: cosmoleap.cn

Latest update Sep 8, 2026

Yueqian-1

01

Current status

Academicians have signed off the first-flight scheme and the vehicle is in first-flight engineering. Official page still lists a 2027 debut. Tower-catch recovery is being validated on a verification platform; the latest public airframe test is the August 19, 2026 second-stage frame and tank-rear-bottom static-load test. Final assembly and integrated testing remain planned for the second half of 2026.

02

Specifications7

Payload to LEO
18,000 kg expended / 12,000 kg reused
Height
70 m
Diameter
4.2 m
Liftoff Mass
554 t
First-Stage Engines
9 × ~80 t class (~720 t total)
Propellant
Methane / liquid oxygen
Reusable
Yes (first stage; up to 20 flights, tower-catch)

03

Upcoming milestones1

All Cosmoleap milestones

Announced next steps from Cosmoleap that mention Yueqian-1.

  1. 2027

    Yueqian-1 final assembly and maiden flight

    Complete final assembly and integrated testing of the first Yueqian-1 in the second half of 2026, then fly the debut orbital mission - and first tower-catch recovery attempt - in 2027. The official product page still lists 2027 as first-flight year. First-stage precooling (June 2026) and second-stage structural static (August 2026) remain the last published airframe tests ahead of that stack.

    cosmoleap.cn

04

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