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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Roscosmos / Progress Rocket Space Centre | Isar Aerospace | PLD Space |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇩🇪 Germany | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| Status | Active | In Development | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Small |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | LOX / kerosene (~80% manufactured in-house) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO ↑ Best | 1,000 kgas of [1] | 1,080 kgas of [1]540 kg to SSO. First flight is a stated plan (targeted Q1 2026 as of this research; not yet confirmed flown) — treat as a target, not a fact. |
| Payload to GTO | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 46.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | — | 35.7 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 312 tas of [1] ↑ Best | — | 69 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs ↑ Best | 0/1 (first flight failed)as of [1]First flight from Andøya Spaceport (2025-03-30): liftoff succeeded but the rocket was terminated ~30 seconds in after a vent valve opened unexpectedly, causing loss of attitude control. Second flight ('Onward and Upward') repeatedly delayed through 2026 (weather, a safety-zone fishing vessel, a composite pressure vessel leak, then off-nominal fluid-system behavior as of 2026-06-15) — not yet flown as of this research. | — |
| Total flights | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best | 1as of [1] | — |
| 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). | Germany's first orbital-class launcher attempt; its first flight in March 2025 was Western Europe's first orbital launch attempt from the European mainland. A qualification second flight carrying CubeSats and ESA experiments has slipped repeatedly through 2026. | PLD Space's orbital small launcher with a recoverable first stage (engine thrust + parachutes), developed with ESA Future Launchers Preparatory Programme support; primary launch site is the Guiana Space Centre. |
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.