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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | SpaceX | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | CASC / CALT |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| First flight | 2010 | 2001 – 2023 | 1996 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best | 22,400 kgas of [1] | 11,200 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. ↑ Best | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) |
| Height | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 58.2 mas of [1] | 54.84 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 549 tas of [1] | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters |
| Success rate | 99.5%as of [2]634/637 full successes; Block 5 alone 580/581 = 99.8% ↑ Best | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO |
| Total flights | 637as of [2] ↑ Best | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 | ~105as of [2] |
| 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. | 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. | China's primary geostationary transfer vehicle for over 25 years. Launched communications, meteorology, and navigation satellites including Beidou-3 (GEO/IGSO nodes). Being phased out in favour of Long March 5 for heavier GTO payloads as newer domestic communications satellites grow in mass. |
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.