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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | NASA / Boeing | CASC / SAST | ISRO / Hindustan Aeronautics Limited |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇨🇳 China | 🇮🇳 India |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Super Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) | UDMH / N₂O₄ (hypergolic all stages) | Solid (HTPB, stages 1–3) / MMH-MON3 liquid (velocity trimming module) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| First flight | 2022 | 1992 | 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 3,500 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~1,300 kg; standard LEO 3,500 kg | 500 kgas of [1]500 km altitude, 35–55° inclination. 300 kg to 500 km SSO. |
| Payload to GTO | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 41.06 mas of [1] | 34 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 2,608 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 232 tas of [1] | 120 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) | 98.7%as of [2]~77/78 successes; one known failure (CZ-2D Y7, Mar 1995 upper-stage anomaly) | 2/3 (67%)as of [1]First flight (Aug 2022) partial failure — satellites reached a lower-than-planned orbit. Second and third flights successful. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 2as of [2] | ~78as of [2] ↑ Best | 3as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost | — | ₹30–35 crore per launch (~$3.1M–$3.6M)as of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | NASA's human deep space launch vehicle for the Artemis programme. Uses heritage RS-25 shuttle main engines (4 per flight, expended). Block 1B with Exploration Upper Stage cancelled Feb 2026; Block 1 will fly through Artemis IV at minimum. | China's most-used sun-synchronous and polar orbit workhorse for small-to-medium military and commercial Earth observation satellites. Launched from Jiuquan and Taiyuan. Uses storable hypergolic propellants for high launch-readiness but produces toxic exhaust. | ISRO's small-satellite launcher, designed for quick-turnaround dedicated smallsat missions. Full manufacturing, marketing and launch rights were transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in June 2025 under a technology-transfer agreement. |
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.