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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 | SpaceX | Rocket Lab |
| Country | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | In Development |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Super Heavy | Medium |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | CH₄ / LOX | CH₄ / LOX |
| Reusable | No | Yes | Yes |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2004 | 2023 | 2026 |
| Payload to LEO | 8,200 kgas of [1]Soyuz-2.1b with Fregat upper stage; 2.1a variant ~7,020 kg LEO | ~150,000 kgas of [1]SpaceX projected max payload in fully expendable mode; ~100,000 kg reusable ↑ Best | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return |
| Payload to GTO | 3,250 kgas of [1]With Fregat-M upper stage | ~21,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration estimate ↑ Best | — |
| Height | 46.3 mas of [1] | 121 mas of [1]Version 2 (V2) full stack Ship + Super Heavy ↑ Best | ~40 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 312 tas of [1] | ~5,000 tas of [1] ↑ Best | ~481 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 97%as of [2]~160/165 mission successes since 2004 per aggregated launch logs ↑ Best | ~55%as of [2]IFT-1 through IFT-11; ~6 complete mission successes, remainder partial or vehicle lost. No orbital payload deployment yet. | — |
| Total flights | ~165as of [2] ↑ Best | 11as of [2]IFT-1 (Apr 2023) through IFT-11 (May 2026 target). IFT-10 (Aug 2025) achieved full mission: booster caught + Ship splash-down. | — |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$600/kgas of [1]SpaceX target figure; not yet achieved in operational configuration ↓ 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). | Largest and most powerful rocket ever flown. Super Heavy booster uses 33 Raptor engines. V3 Ship introduced Aug 2025. Mechazilla caught the booster on IFT-5 (Oct 2024) and IFT-10 (Aug 2025). Primary vehicle for Artemis HLS lunar landing (Artemis III planned 2026). | 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. |
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.