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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Khrunichev / Roscosmos | ULA | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Retired | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX (RD-180); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur III) | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2001 – 2023 | 2002 | 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 22,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 18,850 kgas of [1]401 configuration. Maximum 401/551 stretch to 20,520 kg. 551 max 29,420 kg (5-solid boosters). | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. |
| Payload to GTO | 6,290 kgas of [1]With Briz-M upper stage | 8,900 kgas of [1]551 configuration (maximum performance) ↑ Best | 6,500 kgas of [1] |
| Height | 58.2 mas of [1] | 58.3 mas of [1]401 configuration ↑ Best | 57 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 712 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 334 tas of [1]401 configuration without strap-ons | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration |
| Success rate | ~91%as of [2]~13 mission failures out of ~115 flights in Proton-M variant; highly toxic propellant complicated recovery operations | 99.1%as of [2]108 full successes + 1 partial failure (NROL-30, Jun 2007 — payload still reached usable orbit) across 109 launches ↑ Best | 78%as of [2]~7/9 successes. TF1 (Mar 7, 2023) first flight failure (2nd-stage ignition, DAICHI-3 lost). F8 (Dec 23, 2025) QZS-5 lost to 2nd-stage relight anomaly. H3-30 maiden flight (Jun 12, 2026) successful. |
| Total flights | ~115as of [2]Effectively retired ~2023 with Russian government replacing it with Angara A5 ↑ Best | 109as of [2]No longer sold but still flying its backlog: ~8 launches remained as of Apr 2026 (6 Starliner + 2 Amazon Leo); most recent flight Amazon Leo LA-07 (May 29, 2026), ~7 remain | 9as of [3]Includes the H3-30 (three LE-9 engines, no SRBs) maiden flight on Jun 12, 2026 |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Target unit price ¥5B (~$35M at ¥145/$); roughly half H-IIA's per-launch cost ↓ 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 since 2002 and the longest-serving active US rocket. Launched Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), OSIRIS-REx, Solar Orbiter, Lucy, New Horizons, and the Boeing Starliner. Production ended in 2024 and ULA no longer sells the vehicle, but it continues flying a sold-out backlog of Starliner and Amazon Leo missions into the late 2020s. | Japan's next-generation flagship rocket designed to halve H-IIA costs. Uses LE-9 engines burning liquid hydrogen — the highest-performing expander-cycle engines in the world. First flight TF1 (Mar 7, 2023) failed; first success was TF2 (Feb 17, 2024). HTV-X1 cargo mission to ISS (Oct 2025) demonstrated operational readiness, and the solid-booster-free H3-30 variant debuted Jun 12, 2026. |
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.