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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / SAST | ULA | Arianespace / ArianeGroup |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic all stages) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2) + solid HTPB boosters |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 1992 | 2024 | 1996 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 3,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~1,300 kg; standard LEO 3,500 kg | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best | 21,000 kgas of [1]Ariane 5 ECA configuration |
| Payload to GTO | — | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 10,865 kgas of [1]ECA configuration. Ariane 5 ES (ATV) variant: 21,000 kg LEO |
| Height | 41.06 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 232 tas of [1] | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration | 777 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 98.7%as of [2]~77/78 successes; one known failure (CZ-2D Y7, Mar 1995 upper-stage anomaly) | 100%as of [2]4/4 mission successes: VC2 Cert-1 (Jan 2024), VC2 Cert-2 (Oct 2024), VC4 USSF-87 (Feb 2026), VC2 USSF-106 (Mar 2026) ↑ Best | 97.5%as of [2]113/117 successes. Failures: V501 (Jun 1996, first flight), V63 (Dec 2002, off-course but payload recovered). 2 partial successes. |
| Total flights | ~78as of [2] | 4as of [2] | 117as of [2]VA261 (Jul 5, 2023) was the final Ariane 5 flight. Launched the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 2021). ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. ↓ 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. | ULA's next-generation medium-heavy rocket replacing Atlas V. Powered by two BE-4 engines on the first stage and a cryogenic Centaur V upper stage. Primary customer is USSF under NSSL Phase 2. | Europe's dominant heavy-lift rocket for 27 years. Its most famous payload: the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 25, 2021). Retired Jul 5, 2023 to make way for Ariane 6. Responsible for launching over 250 commercial and scientific payloads including XMM-Newton, Rosetta, and BepiColombo. |
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.