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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ISRO | Rocket Lab | Northrop Grumman |
| Country | 🇮🇳 India | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (PS1/PS3) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (PS2/PS4) — 4 alternating stages | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 1993 | 2026 | 2013 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 3,800 kgas of [1]PSLV-XL with 6 extended solid strap-ons. Standard PSLV-G: 3,250 kg LEO. SSO: ~1,750 kg | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return ↑ Best | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 44 mas of [1] ↑ Best | ~40 mas of [1] | 41 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 320 tas of [1]PSLV-XL configuration | ~481 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 298 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 93.7%as of [2]60/64 mission successes. Two consecutive recent failures: C61 (2024) and C62 (Jan 12, 2026, stage-3 anomaly, 16 satellites lost). ↑ Best | — | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 |
| Total flights | 64as of [2] ↑ Best | — | 12as of [2]Final Antares flight was NG-19 (Aug 1, 2023). NG-20+ moved to Falcon 9 due to Antares RD-181 engine supply disruption (Russia sanctions). |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$4,000/kgas of [1]Estimated from commercial launch contracts ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | India's most reliable and frequently flown launch vehicle, operational since 1994. Set a world record in Feb 2017 by deploying 104 satellites in a single flight (Cartosat-2D + 103 microsats). Launched Chandrayaan-1 (2008), Mars Orbiter Mission (2013), and Aditya-L1 (2023). The dual C61/C62 failure streak raised concerns about aging solid motor design. | 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. | Primary launch vehicle for Cygnus ISS cargo missions from 2013–2023. Its Ukrainian-built Zenit-derived first stage and Russian RD-181 engines became untenable after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Northrop switched NG-20 onward to Falcon 9 while Antares 330 (with Firefly Miranda engines) is in development. |
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.