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 | NASA / Boeing | Avio / Arianespace | ULA |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Super Heavy | Small | Medium |
| Propellant | LH₂ / LOX (RS-25); solid HTPB (SRBs) | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | RP-1 / LOX (RD-180); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur III) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2022 | 2002 – 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 95,000 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 18,850 kgas of [1]401 configuration. Maximum 401/551 stretch to 20,520 kg. 551 max 29,420 kg (5-solid boosters). |
| Payload to GTO | 27,000 kgas of [1]Trans-lunar injection (TLI) payload; GTO not a primary design goal ↑ Best | — | 8,900 kgas of [1]551 configuration (maximum performance) |
| Height | 98.1 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 35 mas of [1] | 58.3 mas of [1]401 configuration |
| Liftoff mass | 2,608 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 210 tas of [1] | 334 tas of [1]401 configuration without strap-ons |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]2/2: Artemis I uncrewed (Nov 16, 2022) + Artemis II crewed lunar flyby (Apr 1–10, 2026) ↑ Best | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. | 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 |
| Total flights | 2as of [2] | 8as of [2] | 99as of [2]Retired after KA-01 (Amazon Kuiper satellite testbed, Apr 9, 2024) ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$40,000+/kgas of [3]NASA OIG (2023) estimated $4.1B per Artemis SLS/Orion flight; total program $23B+ development cost | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ 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. | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 2025. | 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. |
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.