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 | Rocket Lab | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | CH₄ / LOX | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 | 2026 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return ↑ Best | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 46.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | ~40 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 312 tas of [1] | ~481 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 54 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs ↑ Best | — | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 |
| Total flights | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best | — | 7as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest |
| 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). | 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. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 2026. |
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.