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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Northrop Grumman | CASC / CALT | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) | RP-1 / LOX (YF-100 + YF-115) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2013 – 2023 | 2016 | 2004 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo | 13,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~5,500 kg ↑ Best | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage ↑ Best |
| Height | 41 mas of [1] | 53.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 46.3 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 298 tas of [1] | 597 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 312 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 | 100%as of [2]12/12 missions, all Tianzhou ISS resupply or CZ-7 tech demo flights ↑ Best | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs |
| 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). | 12as of [2]Most recently Tianzhou-10 cargo to Tiangong (May 11, 2026) | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| 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. | China's workhorse medium-lift rocket, used exclusively for Tianzhou automated cargo missions to the Tiangong space station. Designed to replace the Long March 2F for high-cadence LEO/cargo missions. Uses the same YF-100 engines as Long March 5's boosters. | Russia's primary medium-lift workhorse, descended from the Soyuz family that has flown since 1966. Carries both crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Cygnus-class cargo. Fregat upper stage significantly expands mission flexibility. Production continues at Samara (now TsSKB-Progress). |
28 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.