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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | Rocket Lab |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Small | Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (3 stages) + liquid-fueled 4th stage | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) | CH₄ / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2023 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1] | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. ↑ Best | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration with downrange barge landing — this is the single payload figure Rocket Lab publishes. ~15,000 kg expendable. |
| Payload to GTO | — | 6,500 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 19.4 mas of [1] | 57 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 43 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 30 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable — road-mobile solid launcher. | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration ↑ Best | ~481 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | ~85% (23 successes, 3 failures, 1 partial failure of 27)as of [1] ↑ Best | 78%as of [2]~7/9 successes. TF1 (Mar 7, 2023) first flight failure (2nd-stage ignition, DAICHI-3 lost). F8 (Dec 23, 2025) QZS-5 lost to 2nd-stage relight anomaly. H3-30 maiden flight (Jun 12, 2026) successful. | — |
| Total flights | 27as of [1] ↑ Best | 9as of [3]Includes the H3-30 (three LE-9 engines, no SRBs) maiden flight on Jun 12, 2026 | — |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Target unit price ¥5B (~$35M at ¥145/$); roughly half H-IIA's per-launch cost ↓ 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. | Japan's next-generation flagship rocket designed to halve H-IIA costs. Uses LE-9 engines burning liquid hydrogen — the highest-performing expander-cycle engines in the world. First flight TF1 (Mar 7, 2023) failed; first success was TF2 (Feb 17, 2024). HTV-X1 cargo mission to ISS (Oct 2025) demonstrated operational readiness, and the solid-booster-free H3-30 variant debuted Jun 12, 2026. | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. |
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.