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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 × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | CASC / CALT | Khrunichev / Roscosmos |
| Country | 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2016 | 2001 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 300 kgas of [1]~200 kg reusable mode (lower due to propellant reserved for re-entry burn) | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules ↑ Best | 22,400 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | 14,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5 variant (with YF-75D upper stage) ↑ Best | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage |
| Height | 18 mas of [1] | 56.97 mas of [1] | 58.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 13 tas of [1] | 869 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 712 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 ↑ Best | 94.1%as of [2]16/17 successes (10 CZ-5 + 7 CZ-5B). Failure: CZ-5 Y2 (Jul 2017, engine anomaly); loss of Shijian-18 satellite. | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations |
| Total flights | 87as of [2] | 17as of [2] | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$25,000/kgas of [1]Based on ~$7.5M list price / 300 kg payload ↓ 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). | China's most powerful operational rocket and the backbone of its flagship space programs. Launched Tianwen-1 to Mars, Chang'e 5 sample return, Chang'e 6 far-side sample return, all Tiangong core and lab modules, and the Xuntian space telescope. The CZ-5B variant delivers entire station modules in a single flight. | Russia's dominant heavy-lift rocket for GEO comsats and planetary missions from 1965 (Proton family) through 2023 (Proton-M). Notorious for its hypergolic propellant — a highly toxic UDMH/N₂O₄ combination that caused environmental concerns at Baikonur. Replaced by Angara A5. |
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.