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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / SAST | JAXA / IHI Aerospace | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Small |
| Propellant | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic all stages) | Solid (HTPB — all stages) | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| First flight | 1992 | 2013 – 2022 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 3,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~1,300 kg; standard LEO 3,500 kg ↑ Best | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 41.06 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 26 mas of [1] | 35 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 232 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 96 tas of [1] | 210 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 98.7%as of [2]~77/78 successes; one known failure (CZ-2D Y7, Mar 1995 upper-stage anomaly) ↑ Best | 83.3%as of [2]5/6 successes. E-6 (Oct 12, 2022) PBS upper stage failed to ignite, eight satellites lost. Epsilon S (next-generation) ground test anomaly Jan 2023 effectively ended the programme. | 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 | ~78as of [2] ↑ Best | 6as of [2] | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | China's most-used sun-synchronous and polar orbit workhorse for small-to-medium military and commercial Earth observation satellites. Launched from Jiuquan and Taiyuan. Uses storable hypergolic propellants for high launch-readiness but produces toxic exhaust. | JAXA's small solid-fuel rocket derived from the M-V rocket heritage. Designed for highly autonomous operations — launch preparations could be managed by just 8 people. The sixth and final E-6 mission (Oct 2022) failed when the PBS kick stage didn't ignite; a ground explosion during Epsilon S testing (Jan 2023) ended the programme. | 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. |
28 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.