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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Northrop Grumman | Galactic Energy | RKTs Progress |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) | Solid (stages 1–3) + hydrazine liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| First flight | 2013 – 2023 | 2020 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo | 400 kgas of [1]300 kg to SSO. | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 41 mas of [1] | 20 mas of [1] | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 298 tas of [1] | 33 tas of [1] | 530 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 ↑ Best | 91.3% (21/23)as of [1] | — |
| Total flights | 12as of [2]Final Antares flight was NG-19 (Aug 1, 2023). NG-20+ moved to Falcon 9 due to Antares RD-181 engine supply disruption (Russia sanctions). | 23as of [1] ↑ Best | 1 (suborbital test)as of [1]First flight 2026-04-30 was a suborbital test, not yet a full orbital mission per this source. |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$4.5M per launchas of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | — |
| Summary | Primary launch vehicle for Cygnus ISS cargo missions from 2013–2023. Its Ukrainian-built Zenit-derived first stage and Russian RD-181 engines became untenable after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Northrop switched NG-20 onward to Falcon 9 while Antares 330 (with Firefly Miranda engines) is in development. | Galactic Energy's workhorse small-lift solid rocket — one of the most-flown Chinese commercial launchers — with a sea-launch variant (Ceres-1S, debuted Sep 2023) and a larger Ceres-2 in development. | Russia's replacement for the Ukrainian-built Zenit, restoring medium-lift capability lost after 2014. Uses the RD-171MV — described as the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world — on its first stage, launching from Baikonur. |
48 launch vehicles across 10 countries — active, retired, and in development — with primary-source citations from manufacturer user guides and agency press kits. Pure URL state: bookmark or share the link and the comparison reproduces exactly.