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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | United Launch Alliance | Northrop Grumman | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2004 – 2024 | 2013 – 2023 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 41 mas of [1] | 35 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 733 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 298 tas of [1] | 210 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] ↑ Best | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. |
| Total flights | 16as 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). | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | 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. | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 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.