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 | ULA | JAXA / IHI Aerospace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) | Solid (HTPB — all stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 1996 | 2024 | 2013 – 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 11,200 kgas of [1] | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. |
| Payload to GTO | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 54.84 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 26 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration ↑ Best | 96 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| Success rate | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO | 100%as of [2]4/4 mission successes: VC2 Cert-1 (Jan 2024), VC2 Cert-2 (Oct 2024), VC4 USSF-87 (Feb 2026), VC2 USSF-106 (Mar 2026) ↑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 | 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. |
| Total flights | ~105as of [2] ↑ Best | 4as of [2] | 6as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. ↓ 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. | 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. | 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. |
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.