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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / CALT | Rocket Lab | NASA / Boeing |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Super Heavy |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) | CH₄ / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2016 | 2026 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 14,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5 variant (with YF-75D upper stage) | — | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best |
| Height | 56.97 mas of [1] | ~40 mas of [1] | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 869 tas of [1] | ~481 tas of [1] | 2,608 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]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 17as of [2] ↑ Best | — | 2as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost ↓ 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. | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. | NASA's human deep space launch vehicle for the Artemis programme. Uses heritage RS-25 shuttle main engines (4 per flight, expended). Block 1B with Exploration Upper Stage cancelled Feb 2026; Block 1 will fly through Artemis IV at minimum. |
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.