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 | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) | Firefly Aerospace | Gilmour Space Technologies |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Status | Active | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Small |
| Propellant | Solid (3 stages) + liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2021 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,500 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 300 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | — | 29 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 25 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 78 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable. ↑ Best | 54 tas of [1] | — |
| Success rate | 80% (4/5)as of [1]Debut flight (2020-07-10) failed; returned to flight 2022-12-07 successfully. ↑ 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 | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. |
| Total flights | 5as of [1] | 7as of [2] ↑ Best | 1as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest | — |
| Summary | The larger sibling of Kuaizhou-1A, roughly 3.75x the payload class, road-mobile and solid-fueled, recovering commercial cadence after a 2020 debut failure. | 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. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. |
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.