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 | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre | ULA | Arianespace / ArianeGroup |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe |
| Status | Active | Retired | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | RP-1 / LOX (RD-180); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur III) | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2) + solid HTPB boosters |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 | 2002 – 2024 | 1996 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO | 18,850 kgas of [1]401 configuration. Maximum 401/551 stretch to 20,520 kg. 551 max 29,420 kg (5-solid boosters). | 21,000 kgas of [1]Ariane 5 ECA configuration ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage | 8,900 kgas of [1]551 configuration (maximum performance) | 10,865 kgas of [1]ECA configuration. Ariane 5 ES (ATV) variant: 21,000 kg LEO ↑ Best |
| Height | 46.3 mas of [1] | 58.3 mas of [1]401 configuration ↑ Best | 54 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 312 tas of [1] | 334 tas of [1]401 configuration without strap-ons | 777 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs | 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 | 97.5%as of [2]113/117 successes. Failures: V501 (Jun 1996, first flight), V63 (Dec 2002, off-course but payload recovered). 2 partial successes. |
| Total flights | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best | 99as of [2]Retired after KA-01 (Amazon Kuiper satellite testbed, Apr 9, 2024) | 117as of [2]VA261 (Jul 5, 2023) was the final Ariane 5 flight. Launched the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 2021). |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | Russia's primary medium-lift workhorse, descended from the Soyuz family that has flown since 1966. Carries both crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Cygnus-class cargo. Fregat upper stage significantly expands mission flexibility. Production continues at Samara (now TsSKB-Progress). | 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. | Europe's dominant heavy-lift rocket for 27 years. Its most famous payload: the James Webb Space Telescope (Dec 25, 2021). Retired Jul 5, 2023 to make way for Ariane 6. Responsible for launching over 250 commercial and scientific payloads including XMM-Newton, Rosetta, and BepiColombo. |
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.