SpaceX Lit Single Engine Static Fire for Starship 41, Huh? China Landed 1st rocket Booster BUT…

After all that anticipation, Starbase has finally broke its silence. Flight 14, Ship 41 has completed its first static fire test. Let's take a closer look at what happened and what it could mean for the launch schedule. Then we'll turn our attention to an important warning for NASA and the United States following China's successful landing of its first commercial rocket booster. How could this affect the aerospace industry? And more importantly, is China now capable of challenging SpaceX? Let's find out what's happening across the aerospace industry on both sides of the planet on today's episode of Great SpaceX. We're now in the final third of August, which means SpaceX should be fully focused on preparing for Flight 14. The first major step is static fire testing for S41, whose hardware completed cryogenic testing at the end of June. According to the TFR, the testing window opened on the 6th, so the delay had raised plenty of concerns. But as I mentioned in the previous update, S41 was finally rolled out on the morning of the 19th. At first, I expected testing to begin on the 20th, but SpaceX surprised us by moving faster than expected. By late afternoon on the 19th, preparations were already underway. Venting filled the test site as fuel was loaded into S41's tanks. As usual, the liquid oxygen tank was fully loaded, while the methane tank was only partially filled. And yes, the test happened while I was putting this video together. I waited quite a while to see whether the engines would actually ignite. Fortunately, S41 rewarded my patience. 22 seconds after 11.06 PM CST, ignition finally occurred and lasted roughly 15 to 18 seconds. The interesting part was that not all six engines appeared to fire. Based on the light and smoke intensity, it looked like only one engine was active, making this a single-engine static fire. SpaceX has used this type of test before, particularly when evaluating engine relay capabilities for in-space operations. But S41 has a much bigger job ahead. This is expected to be the first Starship to attempt an orbital flight. It will need significantly more performance to reach orbit and then continue operating to complete tasks such as payload deployment. So, this test is an important step toward proving that capability. Overall, the test appeared successful, strengthening confidence in Flight 14. SpaceX could then continue testing on August 20th with a full six-engine static fire, potentially lasting up to a minute, similar to recent campaigns. Because Flight 14 is expected to attempt an orbital trajectory, we could also see different test objectives, including higher thrust levels and more demanding thrust vector control operations. The key takeaway is that S41's static fire campaign is finally underway, which strengthens the possibility of an early September launch. However, there's still plenty of work to do. B-21, the super-heavy booster assigned to Flight 14, also needs to complete its own static fire testing. So, let's see how quickly SpaceX can move through the remaining tests and whether Flight 14 can stay on track for September. And now, let's talk about China's latest move in the development of its first commercial reusable rocket. For those familiar with Chinese aerospace, there's one major characteristic. Many launches take place deep inside the mainland. Like most of the world, China has traditionally relied on expendable rockets, meaning each launch can leave spent stages falling back toward populated areas. That's one reason China is gradually moving some launch infrastructure toward coastal and island locations. But rocket reusability is another major strategic step. And the main character here is Landspace's Zhuchui-3. For those wondering, Zhuchui means vermilion bird, one of the four sacred creatures in Chinese mythology. As the name suggests, Zhuchui-3 is the third generation of the Zhuchui rocket family. Last year, its predecessor Zhuchui-2 made headlines by becoming the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit and deploy a payload. With Zhuchui-3, Landspace is taking the next major step, reusability. Its first attempt took place on the 2nd of December of 2025 EST. The rocket successfully reached orbit, but the booster failed to land. That's why the second flight, shown at the beginning of this video, attracted so much attention. The mission launched at 7.35 PM EST on August 18th or 7.35 AM local time on the 19th. Once again, the rocket reached orbit and deployed Hongqing Technologies' Honghu-03 satellite. But this time, Landspace successfully landed the booster. Let's take another look at the landing. The sequence was relatively smooth. After reaching the appropriate altitude, the engines ignited to rapidly slow and control the vehicle. Initially, several engines appeared to be operating before the outer engines shut down and a central engine continued the final deceleration. The grid fins helped control the trajectory while the landing legs deployed before touchdown. The booster then landed within the designated landing zone. However, the landing wasn't perfect. A fire broke out around the engine section, forcing firefighting crews to move in immediately. At its peak, the fire appeared quite intense, spreading toward the landing legs with flames reaching a significant portion of the booster's height. The damage even caused the vehicle to tilt as the landing leg area was affected. The exact cause hasn't been confirmed, but one possibility is that an engine was damaged during the landing burn, resulting in a propellant leak. The leaked fuel could then have ignited and intensified the fire around the engine compartment. It's still unclear whether the fire caused any major structural failure. But regardless, the damage appears serious enough that Landspace may not be able to reuse this particular booster. We'll have to wait for an official assessment. Even so, the mission remains a remarkable achievement. Landspace succeeded in landing an orbital-class booster on only its second attempt. And that sounds somewhat similar to what Blue Origin achieved with New Glenn, right? Of course, we should remember that Landspace is following a path that SpaceX pioneered years ago. So it wouldn't be fair to compare the two companies purely by how quickly they achieved the milestone. Nevertheless, this is an important achievement for both Landspace and China's commercial space industry. Landspace has become the first Chinese private company to successfully land an orbital-class booster using landing legs. It also follows another important Chinese milestone last month when CASC successfully recovered a Long March 10B booster using nets. You can find a link to that video right here or in the description. In fact, Landspace itself highlighted the importance of this achievement, stating that the mission marked China's first successful recovery of an orbital-class first stage using landing legs and its first successful booster recovery on land. Landing with legs is a technique very similar to SpaceX's plans, since Falcon 9 has used it for years. The difference is that the Long March 10B recovery took place at sea using a barge. That approach could be particularly useful for China as it works to overcome the limitations of its traditional inland launch sites. Landspace also described Zhuchui-3 as a pivotal test as the rocket moves from technological demonstration toward the engineering application phase of reusability. The company says the mission further verified the design and reliability of the reusable system while demonstrating first stage recovery capability. And you may have noticed something interesting about the evolution of the Zhuchui family. Zhuchui-1 was a solid fuel rocket. With Zhuchui-2, Landspace switched to methane and liquid oxygen, the same propellant combination that has been closely associated with Starship. Now, with Zhuchui-3, the company has added first stage reusability. In some ways, you could describe it as combining characteristics we've seen in SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Starship. Zhuchui-3 is a two-stage rocket standing about 66 meters tall using landing legs and is designed to carry up to 18.3 tons to low Earth orbit. We still don't know how far Landspace intends to take the Zhuchui family or what future versions will look like. But one thing is clear, China's commercial space industry is rapidly moving toward reusable launch systems. And SpaceX now has another competitor worth watching. It could be said that Landspace's Zhuchui-3 continues China's growing push toward rocket reusability. As mentioned just last month, China achieved another major milestone by recovering a Long March 10B booster using a catching system. Sound familiar? It certainly does. But China's approach has some important differences from SpaceX's Mechazilla. The most obvious is the catching mechanism. Instead of rigid robotic arms, the Long March 10B uses cables connected to a catching frame. Instead, the cables are threaded through pins, opening to receive the booster and then retracting to secure it. The biggest advantage is elasticity. The cables can absorb some of the landing energy, meaning the booster doesn't need to descend as slowly as it would when being caught by rigid arms. They're also potentially easier and cheaper to replace than large mechanical arms. But that flexibility comes with tradeoffs. Cables are more vulnerable to wear from repeated catches and harsh weather conditions. Their elasticity also introduces the possibility of a cable breaking under extreme loads. If multiple pins or cables fail to deploy or retract properly, the entire catch could be compromised. The second major difference is where the system operates. China's catch platform is mobile and located offshore. In some ways, this builds on the same basic concept as SpaceX's Falcon 9 drone ships. Operating over the ocean creates a natural safety barrier, keeping launch and landing operations away from populated areas and reducing the potential impact of noise, vibration, or an accident on nearby infrastructure. A mobile platform also provides greater flexibility. It can potentially reposition itself to meet the returning booster, which could reduce the amount of propellant needed for the landing. SpaceX has already benefited from this approach with Falcon 9 and is now exploring similar concepts for Starship through offshore launch and landing platforms. However, offshore recovery has one major drawback for both countries. After landing, the vehicle still has to be transported back to shore. That adds logistical complexity and increases turnaround time. So while offshore recovery can improve safety and landing flexibility, the real challenge is turning that recovery system into a fast, repeatable operation. The question now is whether these landing efforts, especially Landspace's Juchwe 3, are enough to beat SpaceX. In my perspective, clearly not yet. Despite the successful landing, the problems that followed show that Landspace still has a lot of work to do before it has a truly operational reusable rocket. And there's another major issue. Launch cadence. So far, the Juchwe program still appears to be following a relatively traditional development cycle with months between major flights. That pace may be difficult to increase anytime soon because Landspace doesn't yet appear to have the production capacity needed to build large numbers of flight-ready vehicles. That's why Landspace's Juchwe 3 and China's reusable launch industry more broadly still have a long way to go before catching up with Falcon 9. And remember, SpaceX is already working toward the next generation. The company eventually wants Starship to replace the Falcon family, bringing full reusability and a much larger payload capacity into the future. With Starship's rapidly expanding production system, SpaceX is targeting an entirely different level of launch cadence from flights every few months to every few weeks and eventually potentially multiple launches per day. That combination of rapid production, high launch frequency, full reusability, and massive payload capacity could keep Starship well ahead of today's competitors. But competition is still a good thing for the industry. China's progress is accelerating and that pressure could push SpaceX and everyone else to move even faster. So let's wait and see how this race develops. In any case, folks, if you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to leave a like, subscribe to GreatSpaceX, and ring the notification bell so you never miss the latest updates on Starship, SpaceX, and humanity's exciting journey into the future of space exploration. Thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next one.