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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Avio / Arianespace | Avio | United Launch Alliance |
| Country | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | In Development | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Small | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (HTPB + ammonium perchlorate all four stages) | Solid (P160C first stage) / LOX-methane (cryogenic upper stage) | LH2 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2027 | 2004 – 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 2,300 kgas of [1]SSO: ~1,700 kg | — | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 35 mas of [1] | — | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | 210 tas of [1] | — | 733 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. | — | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Total flights | 8as of [2] | — | 16as of [1] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$16,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$38M list price / 2,300 kg ↓ 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. | The next evolution of ESA's Vega line: replaces the Zefiro-9 and AVUM+ stages with a single cryogenic LOX/methane upper stage powered by the new M10 engine, adding multi-orbit deployment flexibility. First flight is a stated target (2027), not yet flown. | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost. |
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.