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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 2026-06-28Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (3 stages) + liquid-fueled 4th stage | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2017 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 300 kgas of [1]~200 kg reusable mode (lower due to propellant reserved for re-entry burn) | 400 kgas of [1] | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 18 mas of [1] | 19.4 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 13 tas of [1] | 30 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable — road-mobile solid launcher. | 54 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 95.6%as of [3]87 successes / 91 Electron-family flights. Orbital Electron alone: 78/82 (95.1%). HASTE: 9/9. On a 50-flight success streak since December 2023; 21/21 in the 2025 calendar year. | ~85% (23 successes, 3 failures, 1 partial failure of 27)as of [1] ↑ Best | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 |
| Total flights | 91as of [3]91 Electron-family flights: 82 orbital plus 9 suborbital HASTE. Reconciled against three 10-K cumulative checkpoints (38/54/75 successes through 2023/2024/2025). Rocket Lab counts HASTE inside its own 'Electron launched N times' figure. ↑ Best | 27as of [1] | 7as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$25,000/kgas of [1]Based on ~$7.5M list price / 300 kg payload | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest |
| 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). | CASIC's road-mobile, quick-response small solid launcher, operated commercially by ExPace since 2017 — one of the higher-cadence Chinese small-lift vehicles. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 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.