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 | United Launch Alliance | RKTs Progress |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LH2 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2018 | 2004 – 2024 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 63,800 kgas of [1]Expended side boosters. Fully reusable ~27,500 kg LEO. ↑ Best | 28,370 kgas of [1] | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. |
| Payload to GTO | 26,700 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration; reusable ~8,000 kg ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 70 mas of [1] | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 1,421 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 733 tas of [1] | 530 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]12/12 mission successes through Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 (Apr 29, 2026) ↑ Best | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | — |
| Total flights | 12as of [2] | 16as of [1] ↑ Best | 1 (suborbital test)as of [1]First flight 2026-04-30 was a suborbital test, not yet a full orbital mission per this source. |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$1,400/kgas of [1]Based on ~$97M list price / 63,800 kg (expendable configuration) ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | Currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Three Falcon 9 cores sharing propellant cross-feed produce 5.1 MN of sea-level thrust. Primary mission profile: DoD/NRO GEO payloads and planetary science. | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | Russia's replacement for the Ukrainian-built Zenit, restoring medium-lift capability lost after 2014. Uses the RD-171MV — described as the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world — on its first stage, launching from Baikonur. |
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.