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 | Electron 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2001 – 2023 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 300 kgas of [1]~200 kg reusable mode (lower due to propellant reserved for re-entry burn) | 22,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 18 mas of [1] | 58.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 13 tas of [1] | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 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 | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations | 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 | 87as of [2] | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best | 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). | 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. | 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. |
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.