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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | CASC / CALT | Gilmour Space Technologies | ULA |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (YF-100 + YF-115) | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2016 | 2025 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~5,500 kg | 300 kgas of [1] | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | 53.1 mas of [1] | 25 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 597 tas of [1] ↑ Best | — | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]12/12 missions, all Tianzhou ISS resupply or CZ-7 tech demo flights ↑ Best | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. | 100%as of [2]4/4 payloads delivered: Cert-1 (Jan 2024), Cert-2 (Oct 2024, SRB nozzle anomaly), USSF-106 (Aug 13, 2025 — flight 3, first NSSL mission), USSF-87 (Feb 12, 2026 — flight 4, second SRB nozzle anomaly; Space Force paused Vulcan launches, RTF ~late 2026) ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 12as of [2]Most recently Tianzhou-10 cargo to Tiangong (May 11, 2026) ↑ Best | 1as of [1] | 4as 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 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. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. | 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. NSSL-certified March 2025; first NSSL mission USSF-106 flew Aug 13, 2025. Paused by the Space Force after the USSF-87 SRB nozzle anomaly (Feb 12, 2026), with return to flight expected ~late 2026. |
48 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.