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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | ULA |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | In Development | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2001 – 2023 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return | 22,400 kgas of [1] | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | ~40 mas of [1] | 58.2 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | ~481 tas of [1] | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration |
| Success rate | — | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations | 100%as of [2]4/4 mission successes: VC2 Cert-1 (Jan 2024), VC2 Cert-2 (Oct 2024), VC4 USSF-87 (Feb 2026), VC2 USSF-106 (Mar 2026) ↑ Best |
| Total flights | — | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best | 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 | 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. | Russia's dominant heavy-lift rocket for GEO comsats and planetary missions from 1965 (Proton family) through 2023 (Proton-M). Notorious for its hypergolic propellant — a highly toxic UDMH/N₂O₄ combination that caused environmental concerns at Baikonur. Replaced by Angara A5. | 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. Primary customer is USSF under NSSL Phase 2. |
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.