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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | PLD Space | Northrop Grumman | Isar Aerospace |
| Country | 🇪🇸 Spain | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| Status | In Development | Retired | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) | LOX / kerosene (~80% manufactured in-house) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2013 – 2023 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 1,080 kgas of [1]540 kg to SSO. First flight is a stated plan (targeted Q1 2026 as of this research; not yet confirmed flown) — treat as a target, not a fact. | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo ↑ Best | 1,000 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 35.7 mas of [1] | 41 mas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Liftoff mass | 69 tas of [1] | 298 tas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Success rate | — | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 ↑ Best | 0/1 (first flight failed)as of [1]First flight from Andøya Spaceport (2025-03-30): liftoff succeeded but the rocket was terminated ~30 seconds in after a vent valve opened unexpectedly, causing loss of attitude control. Second flight ('Onward and Upward') repeatedly delayed through 2026 (weather, a safety-zone fishing vessel, a composite pressure vessel leak, then off-nominal fluid-system behavior as of 2026-06-15) — not yet flown as of this research. |
| Total flights | — | 12as of [2]Final Antares flight was NG-19 (Aug 1, 2023). NG-20+ moved to Falcon 9 due to Antares RD-181 engine supply disruption (Russia sanctions). ↑ Best | 1as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | PLD Space's orbital small launcher with a recoverable first stage (engine thrust + parachutes), developed with ESA Future Launchers Preparatory Programme support; primary launch site is the Guiana Space Centre. | Primary launch vehicle for Cygnus ISS cargo missions from 2013–2023. Its Ukrainian-built Zenit-derived first stage and Russian RD-181 engines became untenable after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Northrop switched NG-20 onward to Falcon 9 while Antares 330 (with Firefly Miranda engines) is in development. | Germany's first orbital-class launcher attempt; its first flight in March 2025 was Western Europe's first orbital launch attempt from the European mainland. A qualification second flight carrying CubeSats and ESA experiments has slipped repeatedly through 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.