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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | Long March 6 (incl. 6A / 6C variants) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Galactic Energy | Northrop Grumman | SAST (Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology) / CASC |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (stages 1–3) + hydrazine liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) | RP-1 / LOX (stages 1–2); N2O4/UDMH (stage 3, base variant) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2013 – 2023 | 2015 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1]300 kg to SSO. | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo | 1,080 kg to SSO (base Long March 6)as of [1]Long March 6A (4 solid boosters, elongated stage 1): at least 4,000 kg to SSO. Long March 6C: similar class without the boosters. Both variants first flew from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 20 mas of [1] | 41 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 m (base variant)as of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 33 tas of [1] | 298 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 103 t (base variant)as of [1] |
| Success rate | 91.3% (21/23)as of [1] | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 | 100% (base Long March 6, 15/15)as of [1]6A first flew 2022-03-29, 6C first flew 2024-05-07; both maintain perfect records within their own flight histories as of this date. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 23as of [1] ↑ Best | 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). | 15 (base variant)as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$4.5M per launchas of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | 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. | 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. | A family of medium-lift launchers from SAST serving China's growing SSO/LEO commercial and government satellite demand, with the 6A and 6C variants adding solid boosters or a simplified expendable configuration respectively. |
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.