Chinese private space startup LandSpace achieved a major reusable-rocket milestone on Wednesday when the first stage of its Zhuque-3 commercial rocket returned and landed successfully on land after launch. The rocket lifted off at 7:35 a.m. local time from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. State news agency Xinhua described the mission as a complete success.

CCTV footage showed the first stage descending slowly toward a designated desert landing site. Its landing legs deployed shortly before touchdown, allowing it to land in a controlled manner. Zhuque-3’s second stage also successfully delivered the Honghu-03 satellite into its intended orbit, according to Xinhua.

Space experts said LandSpace was the first organization outside the United States to return an orbital-class rocket booster to land using its own landing legs. Astrophysicist Richard de Grijs said China had demonstrated two separate rocket-recovery technologies through state and private sectors within a month, following the July recovery of a Long March-10B first stage from a sea-based platform. He said such competition and experimentation could support lower-cost, more frequent launches.