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 | CASC / CALT | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 1996 | 2001 – 2023 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 11,200 kgas of [1] | 22,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 54.84 mas of [1] | 58.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO ↑ Best | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 |
| Total flights | ~105as of [2] | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best | 7as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ 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. | Russia's dominant heavy-lift rocket for GEO comsats and planetary missions from 1965 (Proton family) through 2023 (Proton-M). Notorious for its hypergolic propellant — a highly toxic UDMH/N₂O₄ combination that caused environmental concerns at Baikonur. Replaced by Angara A5. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 2026. |
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.