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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / CALT | Gilmour Space Technologies | SpaceX |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 1996 | 2025 | 2010 |
| Payload to LEO | 11,200 kgas of [1] | 300 kgas of [1] | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) | — | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. ↑ Best |
| Height | 54.84 mas of [1] | 25 mas of [1] | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters | — | 549 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. | 99.5%as of [2]~665/668 full successes (Falcon family incl. Falcon Heavy); 500th landing Sep 2025 ↑ Best |
| Total flights | ~105as of [2] | 1as of [1] | ~668as of [2]Falcon family total (Falcon 9 + Falcon Heavy) per launch log; 75 in 2026 (74 F9 + 1 FH) as of Jun 25, 2026 ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$2,720/kgas of [1]Based on $67M list price / 22,800 kg LEO (expendable) ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | China's primary geostationary transfer vehicle for over 25 years. Launched communications, meteorology, and navigation satellites including Beidou-3 (GEO/IGSO nodes). Being phased out in favour of Long March 5 for heavier GTO payloads as newer domestic communications satellites grow in mass. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. | The world's most frequently flown orbital rocket. Block 5 first stages have landed over 280 times and reflown up to 23 times. Backbone of Starlink and commercial crewed launches. |
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.