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 | SpaceX | Arianespace / ArianeGroup | CASC / CALT |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇨🇳 China |
| Status | In Development | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Super Heavy | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (Vulcain 2.1 + Vinci) | UDMH/N₂O₄ (stages 1–2) + LH₂/LOX (stage 3 YF-75) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| First flight | 2023 | 2024 | 1996 |
| Payload to LEO | ~150,000 kgas of [1]SpaceX projected max payload in fully expendable mode; ~100,000 kg reusable ↑ Best | 21,650 kgas of [1]Ariane 62 (2 boosters) / Ariane 64 (4 boosters); 64 offers higher GTO capacity | 11,200 kgas of [1] |
| Payload to GTO | ~21,000 kgas of [1]Reusable configuration estimate ↑ Best | 11,500 kgas of [1]Ariane 64 configuration. Ariane 62 delivers ~4,500 kg to GTO. | 5,500 kgas of [1]With 4 strap-on liquid boosters (CZ-3B/E enhanced variant) |
| Height | 121 mas of [1]Version 2 (V2) full stack Ship + Super Heavy | 56–63 mas of [1]56 m (Ariane 62) / 63 m (Ariane 64 with 4 solid boosters) ↑ Best | 54.84 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | ~5,000 tas of [1] | 530–860 tas of [1]530 t (A62) / 860 t (A64) ↑ Best | 426 tas of [1]Enhanced variant with 4 liquid strap-on boosters |
| Success rate | ~55%as of [2]IFT-1 through IFT-11; ~6 complete mission successes, remainder partial or vehicle lost. No orbital payload deployment yet. | 100%as of [2]7/7 missions through VA268 Amazon Leo (Apr 30, 2026); Ariane 64 debut Feb 12, 2026 ↑ Best | ~95%as of [2]~6 failures/partial failures out of ~105+ flights; gradually being superseded by Long March 5 for GTO |
| Total flights | 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. | 7as of [2] | ~105as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$600/kgas of [1]SpaceX target figure; not yet achieved in operational configuration ↓ Cheapest | ~$7,500/kgas of [1]Estimate based on ~$115M A62 / ~$165M A64 list prices | — |
| Summary | 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). | Europe's flagship launcher replacing Ariane 5. The Vinci re-ignitable upper stage enables multi-orbit missions and controlled deorbit. Primary customers: Amazon Kuiper, European government payloads, and ESA science missions. | China's primary geostationary transfer vehicle for over 25 years. Launched communications, meteorology, and navigation satellites including Beidou-3 (GEO/IGSO nodes). Being phased out in favour of Long March 5 for heavier GTO payloads as newer domestic communications satellites grow in mass. |
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.