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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) | United Launch Alliance | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | Solid (3 stages) + liquid-fueled 4th stage | LH2 / LOX | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2004 – 2024 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1] | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 19.4 mas of [1] | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 35 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 30 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable — road-mobile solid launcher. | 733 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 210 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | ~85% (23 successes, 3 failures, 1 partial failure of 27)as of [1] ↑ Best | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] | 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 | 27as of [1] ↑ Best | 16as of [1] | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | CASIC's road-mobile, quick-response small solid launcher, operated commercially by ExPace since 2017 — one of the higher-cadence Chinese small-lift vehicles. | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. | 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.