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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Firefly Aerospace | Orienspace | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (HTPB) — three core stages + four strap-on boosters | LH₂ / LOX (LE-7A first stage + LE-5B second stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2021 | 2024 | 2001 – 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 6,500 kgas of [1]~4,200 kg to 500 km SSO | 10,000 kgas of [1]202 configuration (2 SRB-A3 solid strap-ons) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 4,100 kgas of [1]202 configuration ↑ Best |
| Height | 29 mas of [1] | 30 mas of [1] | 53 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 54 tas of [1] | ~400 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 285 tas of [1]202 configuration |
| 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 | 100%as of [2]2/2 successes: maiden flight Jan 11, 2024; second flight Oct 2025 delivered 3 commercial satellites to SSO ↑ Best | 98%as of [2]49/50 successes. Only failure: F6 (Nov 2003, MTSAT-1R lost due to SRB separation anomaly). Retired after Flight 50 (GOSAT-GW, Jun 28, 2025). |
| Total flights | 7as of [2] | 2as of [2]Both flights launched from a barge in the Yellow Sea off Haiyang, Shandong | 50as of [2]50 flights from 2001–2025. H3 replaces it from 2024 onward. ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| 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. | The world's most powerful solid-propellant launch vehicle and the largest rocket yet flown from a sea platform. Orienspace's barge-launched Gravity-1 gives Chinese commercial customers a mobile, weather-flexible ride for mid-inclination smallsat batches; both flights to date succeeded. | Japan's flagship medium-lift rocket for 24 years, retiring after an exceptional 49/50 mission success record. Launched the SELENE lunar orbiter (2007), Akatsuki Venus probe (2010), Hayabusa2 (2014), SLIM lunar lander (2023), and the ALOS series Earth observation satellites. |
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.