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The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | ULA | RKTs Progress | JAXA / IHI Aerospace |
| Country | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇷🇺 Russia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Status | Active | Active | Retired |
| Vehicle class | Heavy | Medium | Small |
| Propellant | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) | RP-1 / LOX | Solid (HTPB — all stages) |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| First flight | 2024 | 2026 | 2013 – 2022 |
| Payload to LEO | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best | 18,000 kgas of [1]Uncrewed configuration. | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. |
| Payload to GTO | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best | — | — |
| Height | 61.6 mas of [1] | 61.9 m (uncrewed) / 65.9 m (crewed variant)as of [1] ↑ Best | 26 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration ↑ Best | 530 tas of [1] | 96 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]4/4 payloads delivered: Cert-1 (Jan 2024), Cert-2 (Oct 2024, SRB nozzle anomaly), USSF-106 (Aug 13, 2025 — flight 3, first NSSL mission), USSF-87 (Feb 12, 2026 — flight 4, second SRB nozzle anomaly; Space Force paused Vulcan launches, RTF ~late 2026) ↑ Best | — | 83.3%as of [2]5/6 successes. E-6 (Oct 12, 2022) PBS upper stage failed to ignite, eight satellites lost. Epsilon S (next-generation) ground test anomaly Jan 2023 effectively ended the programme. |
| Total flights | 4as of [2] | 1 (suborbital test)as of [1]First flight 2026-04-30 was a suborbital test, not yet a full orbital mission per this source. | 6as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. ↓ Cheapest | — | — |
| Summary | ULA's next-generation medium-heavy rocket replacing Atlas V. Powered by two BE-4 engines on the first stage and a cryogenic Centaur V upper stage. NSSL-certified March 2025; first NSSL mission USSF-106 flew Aug 13, 2025. Paused by the Space Force after the USSF-87 SRB nozzle anomaly (Feb 12, 2026), with return to flight expected ~late 2026. | Russia's replacement for the Ukrainian-built Zenit, restoring medium-lift capability lost after 2014. Uses the RD-171MV — described as the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world — on its first stage, launching from Baikonur. | JAXA's small solid-fuel rocket derived from the M-V rocket heritage. Designed for highly autonomous operations — launch preparations could be managed by just 8 people. The sixth and final E-6 mission (Oct 2022) failed when the PBS kick stage didn't ignite; a ground explosion during Epsilon S testing (Jan 2023) ended the programme. |
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.