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 | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | ULA | SpaceX |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Retired | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX (RD-180); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur III) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2001 – 2023 | 2002 – 2024 | 2010 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,400 kgas of [1] | 18,850 kgas of [1]401 configuration. Maximum 401/551 stretch to 20,520 kg. 551 max 29,420 kg (5-solid boosters). | 22,800 kgas of [1]Reusable first stage (expended gives 22,800 kg; reused gives ~15,600 kg) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage | 8,900 kgas of [1]551 configuration (maximum performance) ↑ Best | 8,300 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration. Reusable GTO capacity ~5,500 kg. |
| Height | 58.2 mas of [1] | 58.3 mas of [1]401 configuration | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 334 tas of [1]401 configuration without strap-ons | 549 tas of [1] |
| 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]99/99 mission successes from Aug 2002 through Apr 2024 (final Kuiper flight). Only launch vehicle with 100% success across 99 missions. ↑ Best | 99.5%as of [2]634/637 full successes; Block 5 alone 580/581 = 99.8% |
| Total flights | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 | 99as of [2]Retired after KA-01 (Amazon Kuiper satellite testbed, Apr 9, 2024) | 637as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$2,720/kgas of [1]Based on $67M list price / 22,800 kg LEO (expendable) ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | 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 workhorse from 2002–2024. Launched Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), OSIRIS-REx, Solar Orbiter, Lucy, New Horizons, and the Boeing Starliner. Its Russian RD-180 first-stage engine became a political liability after 2022; last flight was the Amazon Kuiper testbed on Apr 9, 2024. | The world's most frequently flown orbital rocket. Block 5 first stages have landed over 280 times and reflown up to 23 times. Backbone of Starlink and commercial crewed launches. |
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.