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) | Avio / Arianespace | RKTs Progress |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (3 stages) + liquid-fueled 4th stage | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| First flight | 2017 | 2022 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 400 kgas of [1] | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 19.4 mas of [1] | 35 mas of [1] | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 30 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable — road-mobile solid launcher. | 210 tas of [1] | 530 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | ~85% (23 successes, 3 failures, 1 partial failure of 27)as of [1] ↑ Best | 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 | 8as of [2] | 1 (suborbital test)as of [1]First flight 2026-04-30 was a suborbital test, not yet a full orbital mission per this source. |
| 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. | 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. | Russia's replacement for the Ukrainian-built Zenit, restoring medium-lift capability lost after 2014. Uses the RD-171MV — described as the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world — on its first stage, launching from Baikonur. |
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.