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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | GSLV Mk III (LVM3) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | Firefly Aerospace | ISRO |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇮🇳 India |
| Status | In Development | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (S200 boosters) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (L110) + LH₂/LOX (C25) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2021 | 2017 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 10,000 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 4,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | ~40 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] | 43.43 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | ~481 tas of [1] | 54 tas of [1] | 643 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | — | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 | 100%as of [2]10/10 missions since development flight 2014 (D1). Production flights since 2017. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | — | 7as of [2] | 10as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO | ~$4,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from OneWeb commercial contract ~$450M for 36 satellites (~5 tonne batch to GTO) ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable rocket targeting the $100B constellation replenishment market. Uses a 'hungry hippo' fairings design that opens at the top rather than traditional clamshell separation. First flight delayed to Q4 2026 after a Jan 2026 propellant tank test anomaly. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 2026. | 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. |
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.