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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Blue Origin | Firefly Aerospace | Khrunichev / Roscosmos |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (BE-3U second stage) | RP-1 / LOX | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2025 | 2021 | 2001 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 45,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage; expendable ~45,000 kg. GTO (reusable) ~13,000 kg. ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg | 22,400 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage configuration ↑ Best | — | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage |
| Height | 98 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 29 mas of [1] | 58.2 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 1,016 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 tas of [1] | 712 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 67%as of [2]NG-1 (Jan 2025) full mission success, booster lost; NG-2 (Nov 2025) success + first Jacklyn booster landing; NG-3 (Apr 2026) partial — payload in wrong orbit, FAA grounded | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 3as of [2] | 7as of [2] | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$1,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from ~$67M commercial pricing / 45,000 kg payload capacity ↓ Cheapest | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO | — |
| Summary | Blue Origin's first orbital rocket. The 7-meter payload fairing is the widest of any current production rocket. NG-2 (Nov 2025) achieved the company's first booster landing on drone ship Jacklyn. | 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. | 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. |
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.