HUZHOU, China: A private Chinese rocket startup is stepping into territory long dominated by SpaceX, signaling a shift in China's space ambitions as it experiments with reusable launch vehicles and prepares to tap capital markets.

Beijing-based LandSpace earlier this month became the first Chinese entity to conduct a reusable rocket test, a milestone that has sharpened attention both at home and abroad. The company is now laying the groundwork for a potential initial public offering to fund future projects, mirroring moves being weighed by its far larger U.S. rival.

Although the test flight of LandSpace's Zhuque-3 rocket failed, the attempt itself has injected momentum into China's commercial space sector, which has historically been led by cautious, state-owned players. The company's goal is explicit: build a low-cost, reusable launcher that can compete with SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 and support Beijing's long-term plan to deploy satellite constellations numbering in the tens of thousands.

"(SpaceX) can push products to the edge and even into failure, quickly identifying limits and iterating," Zhuque-3 chief designer Dai Zheng told state broadcaster CCTV after the inaugural flight. Dai said he left the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in 2016 partly because of SpaceX's emphasis on reusability and his desire to create a Chinese equivalent.

That influence is visible in LandSpace's engineering choices. "Falcon 9 is a successful configuration that has been tested by engineering," Zhuque-3 deputy chief designer Dong Kai said in a podcast interview last week. "After studying it, we recognize its rationality; this is learning, not imitation." He added: "Calling (Zhuque-3) a ‘Chinese Falcon 9,' I think, is a very high compliment."

LandSpace's startup ethos is also nudging a cultural change. China's state-led space program has traditionally shunned public failures, unlike Western firms that broadcast setbacks as part of rapid iteration. Yet earlier this month, state media reported on China's first two failed attempts to recover a reusable rocket — including one by a state-owned company — shortly after Zhuque-3's debut.

The company has also begun opening up. Reuters was allowed onto LandSpace's engine factory floor this month, offering a rare glimpse for foreign media into one of its core capabilities.

Policy winds appear to be shifting in its favor. Since Beijing opened the space sector to private capital in 2014, a wave of startups has emerged. Now, authorities are working to help leading players access funding more easily, including by smoothing the path to IPOs.

Dai pointed to SpaceX's deep pockets as a crucial advantage. "For us, we're not yet able to do that," he told CCTV, referring to the U.S. firm's ability to absorb significant losses while testing Starship. "I believe our country has recognized this, allowing capital markets to support companies (in areas) like commercial space flight."

Attention from SpaceX's founder has already arrived. A month before the Zhuque-3 test, Elon Musk commented on a video of the rocket's assembly, noting it combined stainless steel and methalox propulsion, methane and liquid oxygen, with a Falcon 9-like architecture. "They have added aspects of Starship … to a Falcon 9 architecture, which would enable it to beat Falcon 9," Musk wrote. "But Starship is in another league."

As LandSpace readies its next launch after the December crash — when the booster failed to ignite a planned landing burn and was lost — it may take solace from SpaceX's own learning curve. Falcon 9 achieved its first successful booster landing in 2015, after two failed attempts.