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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Avio / Arianespace | Rocket Lab | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Country | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | In Development | Active |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | CH₄ / LOX | LH₂ / LOX (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) |
| Reusable | No | Yes | No |
| Stages | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2026 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | 13,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~8,000 kg reusable with first-stage return | 16,500 kgas of [1]H3-24 (2 SRB-3 + 4 LE-9 engines) configuration. H3-30 baseline: 16,500 kg. ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | 6,500 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | 35 mas of [1] | ~40 mas of [1] | 57 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 210 tas of [1] | ~481 tas of [1] | 574 tas of [1]H3-24S configuration ↑ 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. ↑ Best | — | 75%as of [2]~6/8 successes. TF1 (Feb 2023) first flight failure (LE-9 ignition issue, DAICHI-3 lost). F8 (Dec 23, 2025) QZS-5 lost to 2nd-stage relight anomaly. ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] ↑ Best | — | 8as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg | — | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Target unit price ¥5B (~$35M at ¥145/$); roughly half H-IIA's per-launch cost ↓ 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. | 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. | Japan's next-generation flagship rocket designed to halve H-IIA costs. Uses three LE-9 engines burning liquid hydrogen — the highest-performing expander-cycle engines in the world. First successful flight was TF2 (Feb 17, 2024). HTV-X1 cargo mission to ISS (Oct 2025) demonstrated operational readiness. |
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.