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 | United Launch Alliance | Galactic Energy | Arianespace / ArianeGroup |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | LH2 / LOX | Solid (stages 1–3) + hydrazine liquid upper stage | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2.1 + Vinci) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 – 2024 | 2020 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 400 kgas of [1]300 kg to SSO. | 21,650 kgas of [1]Ariane 62 (2 boosters) / Ariane 64 (4 boosters); 64 offers higher GTO capacity |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 11,500 kgas of [1]Ariane 64 configuration. Ariane 62 delivers ~4,500 kg to GTO. ↑ Best |
| Height | 70.7 mas of [1] | 20 mas of [1] | 56–63 mas of [1]56 m (Ariane 62) / 63 m (Ariane 64 with 4 solid boosters) ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 733 tas of [1] | 33 tas of [1] | 530–860 tas of [1]530 t (A62) / 860 t (A64) ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | 91.3% (21/23)as of [1] | 100%as of [2]8/8 missions through VA269 Amazon Leo (Jun 17, 2026, 36 sats on upgraded P160C boosters); Ariane 64 debut Feb 12, 2026 ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 16as of [1] | 23as of [1] ↑ Best | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$4.5M per launchas of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | ~$7,500/kgas of [1]Estimate based on ~$115M A62 / ~$165M A64 list prices |
| Summary | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | 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. | Europe's flagship launcher replacing Ariane 5. The Vinci re-ignitable upper stage enables multi-orbit missions and controlled deorbit. Primary customers: Amazon Kuiper, European government payloads, and ESA science missions. |
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.