Dahang Yueqian pushes 'chopsticks' rocket catch technology, targets 2027 maiden flight for Yueqian-1
Chinese commercial space company Dahang Yueqian is developing a recovery method in which tower-mounted arms catch the rocket, replacing landing legs to save mass and extend reuse life. Its Yueqian-1 rocket recently completed several ground tests and is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2027.
According to Taibo (taibo.cn), Dahang Yueqian is advancing a "chopsticks" rocket recovery technology in which tower-mounted mechanical arms catch the rocket in the air, replacing conventional landing legs. The company says dropping the landing legs cuts vehicle mass, raises payload capacity, reduces landing loads and extends the life of the airframe.
Dahang Yueqian says it chose a "ground capture plus intelligent control" approach from its founding and is the first company in China to propose and implement this route. It has built a "chopsticks" tower recovery validation platform, developed what it calls China's first recovery-tower controller, "Xiaohuoshi", and completed China's first ground test of a "chopsticks" recovery tower.
For validation, the company uses a "digital twin plus dynamic capture" method, simulating recovery trajectories and the capture process digitally, and has completed static load tests and dynamic capture experiments, with sensors on the tower structure collecting structural response data from more than a hundred measurement points.
The Yueqian-1 rocket recently completed a second-stage engine calibration firing, a cyclic pre-cooling test of the pressurisation and feed system, a combined static load test of the second-stage engine frame and tank aft dome, and a static test of the second-stage avionics bay structure, and is targeting a first flight in 2027. The company also plans to build a sea-based recovery tower platform later for recovery at sea.
Our take: Dahang Yueqian's tower-capture route resembles SpaceX's Starship recovery method, but China has already seen successful recoveries using landing legs (Zhuque-3) and a net system (Long March 10B). Whether tower capture can deliver high-frequency reuse in engineering practice will have to wait for the first flight.