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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Firefly Aerospace | Blue Origin | JAXA / IHI Aerospace |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (BE-3U second stage) | Solid (HTPB — all stages) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2021 | 2025 | 2013 – 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 45,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage; expendable ~45,000 kg. GTO (reusable) ~13,000 kg. ↑ Best | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. |
| Payload to GTO | — | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage configuration ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 29 mas of [1] | 98 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 26 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 54 tas of [1] | 1,016 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 96 tas of [1] |
| 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 | 67%as of [2]NG-1 (Jan 2025) full mission success, booster lost; NG-2 (Nov 2025) success + first Jacklyn booster landing; NG-3 (Apr 2026) partial — payload in wrong orbit, FAA grounded | 83.3%as of [2]5/6 successes. E-6 (Oct 12, 2022) PBS upper stage failed to ignite, eight satellites lost. Epsilon S (next-generation) ground test anomaly Jan 2023 effectively ended the programme. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 7as of [2] ↑ Best | 3as of [2] | 6as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO | ~$1,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from ~$67M commercial pricing / 45,000 kg payload capacity ↓ 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. | Blue Origin's first orbital rocket. The 7-meter payload fairing is the widest of any current production rocket. NG-2 (Nov 2025) achieved the company's first booster landing on drone ship Jacklyn. | JAXA's small solid-fuel rocket derived from the M-V rocket heritage. Designed for highly autonomous operations — launch preparations could be managed by just 8 people. The sixth and final E-6 mission (Oct 2022) failed when the PBS kick stage didn't ignite; a ground explosion during Epsilon S testing (Jan 2023) ended the programme. |
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.