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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / CALT | NASA / Boeing | SpaceX |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Super Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (YF-77 core) + RP-1/LOX (YF-100 boosters) | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2016 | 2022 | 2010 |
| Payload to LEO | 25,000 kgas of [1]CZ-5B variant (no upper stage) delivers 25,000 kg LEO for Tiangong station modules | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) |
| 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 | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. |
| Height | 56.97 mas of [1] | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 70 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 869 tas of [1] | 2,608 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 549 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. | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) ↑ Best | 99.5%as of [2]634/637 full successes; Block 5 alone 580/581 = 99.8% |
| Total flights | 17as of [2] | 2as of [2] | 637as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost | ~$2,720/kgas of [1]Based on $67M list price / 22,800 kg LEO (expendable) ↓ 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. | 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. | The world's most frequently flown orbital rocket. Block 5 first stages have landed over 280 times and reflown up to 23 times. Backbone of Starlink and commercial crewed launches. |
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.