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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | Electron 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-28Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | Rocket Lab | NASA / Boeing |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇳🇿 New Zealand / USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Super Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | RP-1 / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2020 | 2017 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,100 kgas of [1]5,000 kg to 700 km SSO (base); the enlarged-second-stage 8A variant (first flew 2025-02-11) lifts 7,000 kg to the same SSO reference orbit. | 300 kgas of [1]~200 kg reusable mode (lower due to propellant reserved for re-entry burn) | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best |
| Height | 50.3 mas of [1] | 18 mas of [1] | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 13 tas of [1] | 2,608 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 95.6%as of [3]87 successes / 91 Electron-family flights. Orbital Electron alone: 78/82 (95.1%). HASTE: 9/9. On a 50-flight success streak since December 2023; 21/21 in the 2025 calendar year. | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) |
| Total flights | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 91as of [3]91 Electron-family flights: 82 orbital plus 9 suborbital HASTE. Reconciled against three 10-K cumulative checkpoints (38/54/75 successes through 2023/2024/2025). Rocket Lab counts HASTE inside its own 'Electron launched N times' figure. | 2as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$25,000/kgas of [1]Based on ~$7.5M list price / 300 kg payload ↓ Cheapest | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost |
| Summary | A two-stage medium-lift launcher originally designed with a reusable combined-booster-recovery concept in mind, though currently operational vehicles fly expendable. Exclusively from Wenchang. | The world's most commercially active small launch vehicle, designed and built in-house at Rocket Lab. Rutherford engines are the first flight-proven engines made with additive manufacturing (metal 3D printing). Booster recovery via parachute and helicopter catch (later transitioned to ocean recovery). | 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. |
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.