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 | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Small |
| Propellant | Solid (3 stages) + liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,500 kgas of [1] | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | — | 29 mas of [1] | 35 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 78 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable. | 54 tas of [1] | 210 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| 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 | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. |
| Total flights | 5as of [1] | 7as of [2] | 8as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg |
| 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. | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 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.