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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | United Launch Alliance | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | PLD Space |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| Status | Retired | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (RD-191, all 5 modules) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 – 2024 | 2014 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 24,500 kgas of [1]With KVTK cryogenic upper stage (planned); Briz-M gives ~5,400 kg GTO | 1,080 kgas of [1]540 kg to SSO. First flight is a stated plan (targeted Q1 2026 as of this research; not yet confirmed flown) — treat as a target, not a fact. |
| Payload to GTO | — | 5,400 kgas of [1]Briz-M upper stage. KVTK would raise this to ~7,500 kg. ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 64 mas of [1] | 35.7 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 733 tas of [1] | 773 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 69 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | 100%as of [2]4/4 mission successes: Dec 2014, Dec 2020, Mar 2023, Apr 2024 ↑ Best | — |
| Total flights | 16as of [1] ↑ Best | 4as of [2] | — |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | Russia's new-generation heavy-lift rocket built entirely of Russian-manufactured components — a political priority after Proton-M's dependence on Ukrainian components. Five URM-1 universal rocket modules share the same propellant (RP-1/LOX), unlike Proton-M's toxic hypergolics. Flight rate remains very low. | PLD Space's orbital small launcher with a recoverable first stage (engine thrust + parachutes), developed with ESA Future Launchers Preparatory Programme support; primary launch site is the Guiana Space Centre. |
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.