Pick up to 4 launch vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.
The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ULA | SpaceX | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (RD-180); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur III) | RP-1 / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2002 – 2024 | 2018 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 18,850 kgas of [1]401 configuration. Maximum 401/551 stretch to 20,520 kg. 551 max 29,420 kg (5-solid boosters). | 63,800 kgas of [1]Expended side boosters. Fully reusable ~27,500 kg LEO. ↑ Best | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. |
| Payload to GTO | 8,900 kgas of [1]551 configuration (maximum performance) | 26,700 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration; reusable ~8,000 kg ↑ Best | 6,500 kgas of [1] |
| Height | 58.3 mas of [1]401 configuration | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 57 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 334 tas of [1]401 configuration without strap-ons | 1,421 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]99/99 mission successes from Aug 2002 through Apr 2024 (final Kuiper flight). Only launch vehicle with 100% success across 99 missions. ↑ Best | 100%as of [2]12/12 mission successes through Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 (Apr 29, 2026) ↑ Best | 75%as of [2]~6/8 successes. TF1 (Feb 2023) first flight failure (LE-9 ignition issue, DAICHI-3 lost). F8 (Dec 23, 2025) QZS-5 lost to 2nd-stage relight anomaly. |
| Total flights | 99as of [2]Retired after KA-01 (Amazon Kuiper satellite testbed, Apr 9, 2024) ↑ Best | 12as of [2] | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$1,400/kgas of [1]Based on ~$97M list price / 63,800 kg (expendable configuration) ↓ Cheapest | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Target unit price ¥5B (~$35M at ¥145/$); roughly half H-IIA's per-launch cost |
| Summary | ULA's workhorse from 2002–2024. Launched Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), OSIRIS-REx, Solar Orbiter, Lucy, New Horizons, and the Boeing Starliner. Its Russian RD-180 first-stage engine became a political liability after 2022; last flight was the Amazon Kuiper testbed on Apr 9, 2024. | Currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Three Falcon 9 cores sharing propellant cross-feed produce 5.1 MN of sea-level thrust. Primary mission profile: DoD/NRO GEO payloads and planetary science. | Japan's next-generation flagship rocket designed to halve H-IIA costs. Uses three LE-9 engines burning liquid hydrogen — the highest-performing expander-cycle engines in the world. First successful flight was TF2 (Feb 17, 2024). HTV-X1 cargo mission to ISS (Oct 2025) demonstrated operational readiness. |
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.