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 | Galactic Energy | Firefly Aerospace | Gilmour Space Technologies |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Status | Active | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Small |
| Propellant | Solid (stages 1–3) + hydrazine liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2021 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1]300 kg to SSO. | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg ↑ Best | 300 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 20 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 25 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 33 tas of [1] | 54 tas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Success rate | 91.3% (21/23)as of [1] ↑ Best | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. |
| Total flights | 23as of [1] ↑ Best | 7as of [2] | 1as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$4.5M per launchas of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO | — |
| 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. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 2026. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. |
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.