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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Avio / Arianespace | Gilmour Space Technologies | SpaceX |
| Country | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | Hybrid (Sirius motors, stages 1–2) / liquid (Phoenix engine, stage 3) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Stages | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2025 | 2018 |
| Payload to LEO | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 300 kgas of [1] | 63,800 kgas of [1]Expended side boosters. Fully reusable ~27,500 kg LEO. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 26,700 kgas of [1]Expendable configuration; reusable ~8,000 kg ↑ Best |
| Height | 35 mas of [1] | 25 mas of [1] | 70 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 210 tas of [1] | — | 1,421 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | 75%as of [2]6/8 successes; VV22 (Dec 2022) Zefiro-40 failure destroyed Pléiades Neo 5&6; returned to flight VV25 (Dec 2024). 3 successes in 2025. | 0/1as of [1]Maiden flight 2025-07-30 crashed 14 seconds after launch (insufficient thrust), from Bowen Orbital Spaceport, Queensland — Australia's first domestic orbital launch attempt. Preceded by two scrubs (2025-05-15 electrical issue, 2025-05-16 fairing anomaly). A second test flight was slated for early 2026. Block 2 (1,000 kg payload) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg payload) variants are planned. | 100%as of [2]12/12 mission successes through Falcon Heavy ViaSat-3 F3 (Apr 29, 2026) ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] | 1as of [1] | 12as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg | — | ~$1,400/kgas of [1]Based on ~$97M list price / 63,800 kg (expendable configuration) ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | Europe's primary small satellite launcher derived from Vega. The P120C first-stage motor is shared with Ariane 6's solid strap-on boosters. Avio took over programme management from Arianespace in Dec 2025. | Australia's first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle attempt, using a hybrid-propellant first and second stage; the maiden flight failed 14 seconds after liftoff in July 2025. | Currently the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Three Falcon 9 cores sharing propellant cross-feed produce 5.1 MN of sea-level thrust. Primary mission profile: DoD/NRO GEO payloads and planetary science. |
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.