Zhuque-2E Block 2

LandSpace test-fired its TQ-12 liquid-methane and liquid-oxygen engine in May 2019 at its Huzhou facility in Zhejiang province. The Zhuque-2's debut flight on 14 December 2022 failed to reach orbit after the second-stage vernier engines shut down early, but it was the world's first orbital launch attempt by a methane-fuelled vehicle. On 12 July 2023 the second vehicle succeeded and Zhuque-2 became the first methane-fuelled launcher to reach orbit. The enhanced Zhuque-2E first flew on 27 November 2024, placing two satellites in orbit; it introduced a common bulkhead tank structure, the new TQ-15 second-stage engine with thrust vectoring, and a niobium alloy nozzle extension on the uprated TQ-15A.

Zhuque-2E (Y5), launched on 14 May 2026, was the first of the Block 2 subvariant. Its purpose was to unlock the vehicle's full designed capability — 6000 kg to low Earth orbit and 4000 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit — through lengthened first-stage tanks, full subcooled propellant loading, a three-ignition second stage allowing controlled orbital disposal, and an accelerated launch campaign and launch cycle. The flight also served as a return-to-flight mission after the loss of vehicle Y3, on which a voltage issue in the second stage triggered the self-destruct system and destroyed the rocket and its satellites.

The second Block 2 flight, Y6 on 9 June 2026, was recorded as a success — it placed the Qianfan DTC 01 and China Mobile 02 payloads into Sun-synchronous orbit — but the upper stage broke apart shortly after separation, an event the specialist press linked to its proximity to the Starlink constellation. By then the family had accumulated eight launches with five successes and three failures.