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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Avio | JAXA / Mitsubishi Heavy Industries | United Launch Alliance |
| Country | 🇪🇺 Europe | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | In Development | Retired | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Small | Medium | Heavy |
| Propellant | Solid (P160C first stage) / LOX-methane (cryogenic upper stage) | LH₂ / LOX (LE-7A first stage + LE-5B second stage) | LH2 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| First flight | 2027 | 2001 – 2025 | 2004 – 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | — | 10,000 kgas of [1]202 configuration (2 SRB-A3 solid strap-ons) | 28,370 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | 4,100 kgas of [1]202 configuration ↑ Best | — |
| Height | — | 53 mas of [1] | 70.7 mas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Liftoff mass | — | 285 tas of [1]202 configuration | 733 tas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Success rate | — | 98%as of [2]49/50 successes. Only failure: F6 (Nov 2003, MTSAT-1R lost due to SRB separation anomaly). Retired after Flight 50 (GOSAT-GW, Jun 28, 2025). ↑ Best | 93.75% (15/16 full success, 1 partial failure)as of [1] |
| Total flights | — | 50as of [2]50 flights from 2001–2025. H3 replaces it from 2024 onward. ↑ Best | 16as of [1] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | — |
| Summary | 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. | Japan's flagship medium-lift rocket for 24 years, retiring after an exceptional 49/50 mission success record. Launched the SELENE lunar orbiter (2007), Akatsuki Venus probe (2010), Hayabusa2 (2014), SLIM lunar lander (2023), and the ALOS series Earth observation satellites. | ULA's triple-common-booster-core heavy-lift launcher, retired 2024-04-09 after its final flight; superseded by Vulcan Centaur, which ULA states offers similar heavy-lift capability at lower cost.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.