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 | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | GSLV Mk III (LVM3) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | ISRO | ISRO / Hindustan Aeronautics Limited |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇮🇳 India | 🇮🇳 India |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | Solid (S200 boosters) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (L110) + LH₂/LOX (C25) | Solid (HTPB, stages 1–3) / MMH-MON3 liquid (velocity trimming module) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 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. | 10,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 500 kgas of [1]500 km altitude, 35–55° inclination. 300 kg to 500 km SSO. |
| Payload to GTO | — | 4,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 50.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 43.43 mas of [1] | 34 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 643 tas of [1] | 120 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 100%as of [2]10/10 missions since development flight 2014 (D1). Production flights since 2017. | 2/3 (67%)as of [1]First flight (Aug 2022) partial failure — satellites reached a lower-than-planned orbit. Second and third flights successful. |
| Total flights | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 10as of [2] | 3as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$4,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from OneWeb commercial contract ~$450M for 36 satellites (~5 tonne batch to GTO) ↓ Cheapest | ₹30–35 crore per launch (~$3.1M–$3.6M)as of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. |
| 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. | India's most powerful rocket. Launched Chandrayaan-3 (Moon lander) in Jul 2023 and OneWeb internet satellites commercially. Renamed LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) in 2022. The CE-20 cryogenic engine was entirely ISRO-developed — previously India depended on Russian technology for the GSLV Mk II. | ISRO's small-satellite launcher, designed for quick-turnaround dedicated smallsat missions. Full manufacturing, marketing and launch rights were transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in June 2025 under a technology-transfer agreement. |
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.