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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | SSLV (Small Satellite Launch Vehicle) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | Long March 8 (incl. 8A) 🇨🇳 China Trust: Operator-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-07-26Remove × | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ISRO / Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) / CASC | Northrop Grumman |
| Country | 🇮🇳 India | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Medium |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB, stages 1–3) / MMH-MON3 liquid (velocity trimming module) | RP-1 / LOX (stage 1); LH2/LOX (stage 2) | RP-1 / LOX (RD-181 first stage) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2020 | 2013 – 2023 |
| Payload to LEO | 500 kgas of [1]500 km altitude, 35–55° inclination. 300 kg to 500 km SSO. | 8,100 kgas of [1]5,000 kg to 700 km SSO (base); the enlarged-second-stage 8A variant (first flew 2025-02-11) lifts 7,000 kg to the same SSO reference orbit. ↑ Best | 8,000 kgas of [1]Antares 230+ configuration; primarily used for ~3,500–3,800 kg Cygnus cargo |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 34 mas of [1] | 50.3 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 41 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 120 tas of [1] | 356 t (base); 371 t (8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 298 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 2/3 (67%)as of [1]First flight (Aug 2022) partial failure — satellites reached a lower-than-planned orbit. Second and third flights successful. | 100% (16/16 combined base + 8A)as of [1] ↑ Best | 91.7%as of [2]11/12 successes; Orb-3 (CRS-3) exploded at liftoff Oct 2014 |
| Total flights | 3as of [1] | 16 (base + 8A combined)as of [1] ↑ Best | 12as of [2]Final Antares flight was NG-19 (Aug 1, 2023). NG-20+ moved to Falcon 9 due to Antares RD-181 engine supply disruption (Russia sanctions). |
| Cost / kg LEO | ₹30–35 crore per launch (~$3.1M–$3.6M)as of [1]Total launch price, not a per-kg figure. ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | ISRO's small-satellite launcher, designed for quick-turnaround dedicated smallsat missions. Full manufacturing, marketing and launch rights were transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in June 2025 under a technology-transfer agreement. | A two-stage medium-lift launcher originally designed with a reusable combined-booster-recovery concept in mind, though currently operational vehicles fly expendable. Exclusively from Wenchang. | Primary launch vehicle for Cygnus ISS cargo missions from 2013–2023. Its Ukrainian-built Zenit-derived first stage and Russian RD-181 engines became untenable after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Northrop switched NG-20 onward to Falcon 9 while Antares 330 (with Firefly Miranda engines) is in development. |
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.