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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | NASA / Boeing | Blue Origin |
| Country | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Super Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (BE-3U second stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2024 | 2022 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 45,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage; expendable ~45,000 kg. GTO (reusable) ~13,000 kg. |
| Payload to GTO | 6,500 kgas of [1] | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage configuration |
| Height | 57 mas of [1] | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 98 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration | 2,608 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 1,016 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 75%as of [2]~6/8 successes. TF1 (Feb 2023) first flight failure (LE-9 ignition issue, DAICHI-3 lost). F8 (Dec 23, 2025) QZS-5 lost to 2nd-stage relight anomaly. | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) ↑ Best | 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 |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] ↑ Best | 2as of [2] | 3as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Target unit price ¥5B (~$35M at ¥145/$); roughly half H-IIA's per-launch cost | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost | ~$1,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from ~$67M commercial pricing / 45,000 kg payload capacity ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | Japan's next-generation flagship rocket designed to halve H-IIA costs. Uses three LE-9 engines burning liquid hydrogen — the highest-performing expander-cycle engines in the world. First successful flight was TF2 (Feb 17, 2024). HTV-X1 cargo mission to ISS (Oct 2025) demonstrated operational readiness. | 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. | 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. |
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.