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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | JAXA / IHI Aerospace | LandSpace |
| Country | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (LE-7A first stage + LE-5B second stage) | Solid (HTPB — all stages) | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2001 – 2025 | 2013 – 2022 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 10,000 kgas of [1]202 configuration (2 SRB-A3 solid strap-ons) | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 4,100 kgas of [1]202 configuration ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 53 mas of [1] | 26 mas of [1] | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 285 tas of [1]202 configuration | 96 tas of [1] | ~660 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 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). | 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. | 100%as of [2]1/1 orbital successes (Y1, Dec 3, 2025). First-stage recovery failed — abnormal combustion during the landing burn crashed the booster near the landing zone. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 50as of [2]50 flights from 2001–2025. H3 replaces it from 2024 onward. ↑ Best | 6as of [2] | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | 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. | 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. | LandSpace's stainless-steel, reusable methalox rocket — China's closest analogue to Falcon 9. The Y1 debut (Dec 3, 2025) reached orbit on the first attempt but lost the booster during its landing attempt; a second flight with another recovery attempt is targeted for Q2 2026. |
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.