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 | CASC / CALT | Blue Origin |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) | RP-1 / LOX (YF-100 + YF-115) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (BE-3U second stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2016 | 2016 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules | 13,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~5,500 kg | 45,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage; expendable ~45,000 kg. GTO (reusable) ~13,000 kg. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 14,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5 variant (with YF-75D upper stage) ↑ Best | — | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage configuration |
| Height | 56.97 mas of [1] | 53.1 mas of [1] | 98 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 869 tas of [1] | 597 tas of [1] | 1,016 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| 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. | 100%as of [2]12/12 missions, all Tianzhou ISS resupply or CZ-7 tech demo flights ↑ Best | 67%as of [2]NG-1 (Jan 2025) full mission success, booster lost; NG-2 (Nov 2025) success + first Jacklyn booster landing; NG-3 (Apr 2026) partial — payload in wrong orbit, FAA grounded |
| Total flights | 17as of [2] ↑ Best | 12as of [2]Most recently Tianzhou-10 cargo to Tiangong (May 11, 2026) | 3as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$1,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from ~$67M commercial pricing / 45,000 kg payload capacity ↓ 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 workhorse medium-lift rocket, used exclusively for Tianzhou automated cargo missions to the Tiangong space station. Designed to replace the Long March 2F for high-cadence LEO/cargo missions. Uses the same YF-100 engines as Long March 5's boosters. | Blue Origin's first orbital rocket. The 7-meter payload fairing is the widest of any current production rocket. NG-2 (Nov 2025) achieved the company's first booster landing on drone ship Jacklyn. |
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.