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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | JAXA / IHI Aerospace | ULA | CASC / CALT |
| Country | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB — all stages) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2013 – 2022 | 2024 | 2016 |
| 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. | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules |
| Payload to GTO | — | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 14,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5 variant (with YF-75D upper stage) |
| Height | 26 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 56.97 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 96 tas of [1] | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration | 869 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. | 100%as of [2]4/4 mission successes: VC2 Cert-1 (Jan 2024), VC2 Cert-2 (Oct 2024), VC4 USSF-87 (Feb 2026), VC2 USSF-106 (Mar 2026) ↑ 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. |
| Total flights | 6as of [2] | 4as of [2] | 17as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. ↓ 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. | ULA's next-generation medium-heavy rocket replacing Atlas V. Powered by two BE-4 engines on the first stage and a cryogenic Centaur V upper stage. Primary customer is USSF under NSSL Phase 2. | 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. |
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.