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 | SpaceX | Arianespace / ArianeGroup | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | Retired | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2) + solid HTPB boosters | LH₂ / LOX (LE-7A first stage + LE-5B second stage) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2010 | 1996 – 2023 | 2001 – 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best | 21,000 kgas of [1]Ariane 5 ECA configuration | 10,000 kgas of [1]202 configuration (2 SRB-A3 solid strap-ons) |
| Payload to GTO | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. | 10,865 kgas of [1]ECA configuration. Ariane 5 ES (ATV) variant: 21,000 kg LEO ↑ Best | 4,100 kgas of [1]202 configuration |
| Height | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 mas of [1] | 53 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 549 tas of [1] | 777 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 285 tas of [1]202 configuration |
| Success rate | 99.5%as of [2]634/637 full successes; Block 5 alone 580/581 = 99.8% ↑ Best | 97.5%as of [2]113/117 successes. Failures: V501 (Jun 1996, first flight), V63 (Dec 2002, off-course but payload recovered). 2 partial successes. | 98%as of [2]49/50 successes. Only failure: F6 (Nov 2003, MTSAT-1R lost due to SRB separation anomaly). Retired after Flight 50 (GOSAT-GW, Jun 28, 2025). |
| Total flights | 637as of [2] ↑ Best | 117as of [2]VA261 (Jul 5, 2023) was the final Ariane 5 flight. Launched the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 2021). | 50as of [2]50 flights from 2001–2025. H3 replaces it from 2024 onward. |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$2,720/kgas of [1]Based on $67M list price / 22,800 kg LEO (expendable) ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | The world's most frequently flown orbital rocket. Block 5 first stages have landed over 280 times and reflown up to 23 times. Backbone of Starlink and commercial crewed launches. | Europe's dominant heavy-lift rocket for 27 years. Its most famous payload: the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 25, 2021). Retired Jul 5, 2023 to make way for Ariane 6. Responsible for launching over 250 commercial and scientific payloads including XMM-Newton, Rosetta, and BepiColombo. | Japan's flagship medium-lift rocket for 24 years, retiring after an exceptional 49/50 mission success record. Launched the SELENE lunar orbiter (2007), Akatsuki Venus probe (2010), Hayabusa2 (2014), SLIM lunar lander (2023), and the ALOS series Earth observation satellites. |
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.