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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Rocket Lab | RKTs Progress | Gilmour Space Technologies |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| Status | In Development | Active | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| First flight | 2026 | 2026 | 2025 |
| Payload to LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration with downrange barge landing — this is the single payload figure Rocket Lab publishes. ~15,000 kg expendable. | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. ↑ Best | 300 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 43 mas of [1] | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] ↑ Best | 25 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | ~481 tas of [1] | 530 tas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Success rate | — | — | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | — | 1 (suborbital test)as of [1]First flight 2026-04-30 was a suborbital test, not yet a full orbital mission per this source. ↑ Best | 1as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| 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 replacement for the Ukrainian-built Zenit, restoring medium-lift capability lost after 2014. Uses the RD-171MV — described as the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world — on its first stage, launching from Baikonur. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. |
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.