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 | Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) / CASC | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2010 | 2024 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best | 12,000 kgas of [1]At 200 km altitude; 10,000 kg at 300 km. | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 62 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 549 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 433 tas of [1] | 54 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 99.5%as of [2]~665/668 full successes (Falcon family incl. Falcon Heavy); 500th landing Sep 2025 | 100% (6/6)as of [1] ↑ Best | 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 | ~668as of [2]Falcon family total (Falcon 9 + Falcon Heavy) per launch log; 75 in 2026 (74 F9 + 1 FH) as of Jun 25, 2026 ↑ Best | 6as of [1]All six flights deployed Guowang (China SatNet) internet-constellation satellites, exclusively from Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. | 7as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$2,720/kgas of [1]Based on $67M list price / 22,800 kg LEO (expendable) ↓ Cheapest | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO |
| 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. | A medium-lift, kerosene/LOX launcher built specifically to deploy China's Guowang mega-constellation at high cadence from Wenchang's new commercial pads. | 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. |
48 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.