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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / CALT | CASC / SAST | Avio / Arianespace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic all stages) | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2016 | 1992 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules ↑ Best | 3,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~1,300 kg; standard LEO 3,500 kg | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 14,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5 variant (with YF-75D upper stage) ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 56.97 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 41.06 mas of [1] | 35 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 869 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 232 tas of [1] | 210 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 94.1%as of [2]16/17 successes (10 CZ-5 + 7 CZ-5B). Failure: CZ-5 Y2 (Jul 2017, engine anomaly); loss of Shijian-18 satellite. | 98.7%as of [2]~77/78 successes; one known failure (CZ-2D Y7, Mar 1995 upper-stage anomaly) ↑ Best | 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 | 17as of [2] | ~78as of [2] ↑ Best | 8as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | China's most powerful operational rocket and the backbone of its flagship space programs. Launched Tianwen-1 to Mars, Chang'e 5 sample return, Chang'e 6 far-side sample return, all Tiangong core and lab modules, and the Xuntian space telescope. The CZ-5B variant delivers entire station modules in a single flight. | 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. | 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.