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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | Electron 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | GSLV Mk III (LVM3) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | ISRO | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA | 🇮🇳 India | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (S200 boosters) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (L110) + LH₂/LOX (C25) | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2017 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 300 kgas of [1]~200 kg reusable mode (lower due to propellant reserved for re-entry burn) | 10,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | 4,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 18 mas of [1] | 43.43 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 35 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 13 tas of [1] | 643 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 210 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 95.4%as of [2]83/87 orbital successes; 21/21 success rate in 2025 calendar year per Rocket Lab investor release | 100%as of [2]10/10 missions since development flight 2014 (D1). Production flights since 2017. ↑ Best | 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 | 87as of [2] ↑ Best | 10as of [2] | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$25,000/kgas of [1]Based on ~$7.5M list price / 300 kg payload | ~$4,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from OneWeb commercial contract ~$450M for 36 satellites (~5 tonne batch to GTO) ↓ Cheapest | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg |
| Summary | The world's most commercially active small launch vehicle, designed and built in-house at Rocket Lab. Rutherford engines are the first flight-proven engines made with additive manufacturing (metal 3D printing). Booster recovery via parachute and helicopter catch (later transitioned to ocean recovery). | India's most powerful rocket. Launched Chandrayaan-3 (Moon lander) in Jul 2023 and OneWeb internet satellites commercially. Renamed LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) in 2022. The CE-20 cryogenic engine was entirely ISRO-developed — previously India depended on Russian technology for the GSLV Mk II. | 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. |
28 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.