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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Galactic Energy | CASC / CALT | LandSpace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (stages 1–3) + hydrazine liquid upper stage | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2020 | 1996 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1]300 kg to SSO. | 11,200 kgas of [1] | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 20 mas of [1] | 54.84 mas of [1] | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 33 tas of [1] | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters | ~660 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 91.3% (21/23)as of [1] | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO | 100%as of [2]1/1 orbital successes (Y1, Dec 3, 2025). First-stage recovery failed — abnormal combustion during the landing burn crashed the booster near the landing zone. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 23as of [1] | ~105as of [2] ↑ Best | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace |
| 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. | China's primary geostationary transfer vehicle for over 25 years. Launched communications, meteorology, and navigation satellites including Beidou-3 (GEO/IGSO nodes). Being phased out in favour of Long March 5 for heavier GTO payloads as newer domestic communications satellites grow in mass. | LandSpace's stainless-steel, reusable methalox rocket — China's closest analogue to Falcon 9. The Y1 debut (Dec 3, 2025) reached orbit on the first attempt but lost the booster during its landing attempt; a second flight with another recovery attempt is targeted for Q2 2026. |
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.