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 | JAXA / IHI Aerospace | Firefly Aerospace | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre |
| Country | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2013 – 2022 | 2021 | 2004 |
| Payload to LEO | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage ↑ Best |
| Height | 26 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] | 46.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 96 tas of [1] | 54 tas of [1] | 312 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 83.3%as of [2]5/6 successes. E-6 (Oct 12, 2022) PBS upper stage failed to ignite, eight satellites lost. Epsilon S (next-generation) ground test anomaly Jan 2023 effectively ended the programme. | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 6as of [2] | 7as of [2] | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest | — |
| Summary | JAXA's small solid-fuel rocket derived from the M-V rocket heritage. Designed for highly autonomous operations — launch preparations could be managed by just 8 people. The sixth and final E-6 mission (Oct 2022) failed when the PBS kick stage didn't ignite; a ground explosion during Epsilon S testing (Jan 2023) ended the programme. | 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. | Russia's primary medium-lift workhorse, descended from the Soyuz family that has flown since 1966. Carries both crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Cygnus-class cargo. Fregat upper stage significantly expands mission flexibility. Production continues at Samara (now TsSKB-Progress). |
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.