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 | Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) / CASC | Rocket Lab | SpaceX |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | Yes | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2024 | 2026 | 2018 |
| Payload to LEO | 12,000 kgas of [1]At 200 km altitude; 10,000 kg at 300 km. | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration with downrange barge landing — this is the single payload figure Rocket Lab publishes. ~15,000 kg expendable. | 63,800 kgas of [1]Expended side boosters. Fully reusable ~27,500 kg LEO. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 26,700 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration; reusable ~8,000 kg ↑ Best |
| Height | 62 mas of [1] | 43 mas of [1] | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 433 tas of [1] | ~481 tas of [1] | 1,421 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 100% (6/6)as of [1] ↑ Best | — | 100%as of [2]12/12 mission successes through Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 (Apr 29, 2026) |
| Total flights | 6as of [1]All six flights deployed Guowang (China SatNet) internet-constellation satellites, exclusively from Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site. | — | 12as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$1,400/kgas of [1]Based on ~$97M list price / 63,800 kg (expendable configuration) ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | A medium-lift, kerosene/LOX launcher built specifically to deploy China's Guowang mega-constellation at high cadence from Wenchang's new commercial pads. | 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. | Currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Three Falcon 9 cores sharing propellant cross-feed produce 5.1 MN of sea-level thrust. Primary mission profile: DoD/NRO GEO payloads and planetary science. |
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.