The China National Space Administration said the flight followed the sea-based net recovery of a Long March 10B first stage on July 10, and was the first controlled ground recovery using landing legs. Sea and land recovery differ in the landing precision required and in the servicing that follows.

Zhuque-3 is a liquid oxygen and methane vehicle approved by the space administration. It uses a single-core, two-stage stacked configuration, stands 66.1 metres tall with a 4.5-metre body diameter for both stages and a 5.2-metre fairing, and is designed around low cost, high payload, high flight rate and reuse.

The first stage carries nine Tianque-12A liquid oxygen and methane engines. Thrust can be throttled between 40 and 110 percent, allowing a vertical recovery and reflight after the orbital mission. The throttling range bears directly on deceleration control during landing.

A successful recovery does not by itself lower operating costs. Actually reflying the recovered stage, and keeping the turnaround short through a servicing system, are cited as the remaining tasks. Chinese commentary published the same day argued that reflight and commercialisation are the real test.

Methalox engines are widely chosen for designs built around reuse, on the grounds that they leave less residue after combustion and impose a lighter servicing burden.

Xinhua released video of the launch along with footage of the landing.