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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Firefly Aerospace | Arianespace / ArianeGroup | NASA / Boeing |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Super Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2) + solid HTPB boosters | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2021 | 1996 – 2023 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 21,000 kgas of [1]Ariane 5 ECA configuration | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | 10,865 kgas of [1]ECA configuration. Ariane 5 ES (ATV) variant: 21,000 kg LEO | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best |
| Height | 29 mas of [1] | 54 mas of [1] | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 54 tas of [1] | 777 tas of [1] | 2,608 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 | 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. | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 7as of [2] | 117as of [2]VA261 (Jul 5, 2023) was the final Ariane 5 flight. Launched the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 2021). ↑ Best | 2as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest | — | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost |
| Summary | 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. | 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. | NASA's human deep space launch vehicle for the Artemis programme. Uses heritage RS-25 shuttle main engines (4 per flight, expended). Block 1B with Exploration Upper Stage cancelled Feb 2026; Block 1 will fly through Artemis IV at minimum. |
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.