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 | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2024 | 2004 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. ↑ Best | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 6,500 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage | — |
| Height | 57 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 46.3 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration ↑ Best | 312 tas of [1] | 54 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. | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs ↑ Best | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best | 7as 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 ↓ Cheapest | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO |
| 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. | Russia's primary medium-lift workhorse, descended from the Soyuz family that has flown since 1966. Carries both crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Cygnus-class cargo. Fregat upper stage significantly expands mission flexibility. Production continues at Samara (now TsSKB-Progress). | 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. |
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.