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 | Firefly Aerospace | Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) / CASC | RKTs Progress |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2021 | 2024 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 12,000 kgas of [1]At 200 km altitude; 10,000 kg at 300 km. | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 29 mas of [1] | 62 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 54 tas of [1] | 433 tas of [1] | 530 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 | 100% (6/6)as of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Total flights | 7as of [2] ↑ Best | 6as of [1]All six flights deployed Guowang (China SatNet) internet-constellation satellites, exclusively from Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. | 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 | ~$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. | A medium-lift, kerosene/LOX launcher built specifically to deploy China's Guowang mega-constellation at high cadence from Wenchang's new commercial pads. | 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.