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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Blue Origin | ULA | CASC / CALT |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (BE-3U second stage) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) | RP-1 / LOX (YF-100 + YF-115) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2025 | 2024 | 2016 |
| Payload to LEO | 45,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage; expendable ~45,000 kg. GTO (reusable) ~13,000 kg. ↑ Best | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) | 13,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~5,500 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage configuration | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 98 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 61.6 mas of [1] | 53.1 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 1,016 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration | 597 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 | 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 | 100%as of [2]12/12 missions, all Tianzhou ISS resupply or CZ-7 tech demo flights ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 3as of [2] | 4as of [2] | 12as of [2]Most recently Tianzhou-10 cargo to Tiangong (May 11, 2026) ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$1,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from ~$67M commercial pricing / 45,000 kg payload capacity ↓ Cheapest | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. | — |
| 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. | 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. | China's workhorse medium-lift rocket, used exclusively for Tianzhou automated cargo missions to the Tiangong space station. Designed to replace the Long March 2F for high-cadence LEO/cargo missions. Uses the same YF-100 engines as Long March 5's boosters. |
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.