Longyun (Dragon Cloud) engine
A reusable, restartable methane and liquid oxygen engine meant to power the first stages of medium and large Chinese rockets, including boosters designed to land and fly again.
Why it matters
China's push into reusable rockets needs engines that can throttle deeply and relight for landing. A merchant supplier lets several rocket makers share one engine line instead of each developing its own.
How the technology works
Longyun burns liquid methane with liquid oxygen, can restart several times and vary its thrust, and is built for reuse. In a May 2025 sea-landing test the engine climbed at full thrust, shut down, glided, relit about 8 seconds after shutdown under high aerodynamic pressure, and slowed the vehicle to a hover before splashdown.
A vacuum version for upper stages has completed hot-fire tests.
Sources
Updated Oct 22, 2026 · How we source facts · Suggest a correction