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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | SpaceX | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre | CASC / CALT |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (YF-100 + YF-115) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2010 | 2004 | 2016 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO | 13,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~5,500 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. ↑ Best | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage | — |
| Height | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 46.3 mas of [1] | 53.1 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 549 tas of [1] | 312 tas of [1] | 597 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 99.5%as of [2]634/637 full successes; Block 5 alone 580/581 = 99.8% | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs | 100%as of [2]12/12 missions, all Tianzhou ISS resupply or CZ-7 tech demo flights ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 637as of [2] ↑ Best | ~165as of [2] | 12as of [2]Most recently Tianzhou-10 cargo to Tiangong (May 11, 2026) |
| 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 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). | China's workhorse medium-lift rocket, used exclusively for Tianzhou automated cargo missions to the Tiangong space station. Designed to replace the Long March 2F for high-cadence LEO/cargo missions. Uses the same YF-100 engines as Long March 5's boosters. |
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.