Pick up to 4 launch vehicles to compare side-by-side. State lives in the URL — share the link and the comparison loads exactly as you left it.
The global launch market reached $14.1 billion in 2024 — up 34% since 2021.
| Attribute | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | LandSpace | JAXA / IHI Aerospace | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Retired | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Small |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX (Tianque-12 + Tianque-15 upper stage) | Solid (HTPB — all stages) | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | No | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2022 | 2013 – 2022 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 6,000 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~4,000 kg ↑ Best | 590 kgas of [1]500 kg to SSO. Enhanced Epsilon (from E-4) added 700 kg LEO via PBS liquid kick stage. | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 49.5 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 26 mas of [1] | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | 219 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 96 tas of [1] | 54 tas of [1] |
| Success rate | 75%as of [2]3/4 full successes; ZQ-2 Y1 (Dec 2022) reached orbit on stage 1 but 2nd stage failed; ZQ-2 Y2 (Jul 2023) SUCCESS — world's first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit | 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. ↑ Best | 43%as of [2]3/7 full successes (FLTA003 Jul 2023, FLTA005 Dec 2024, FLTA007 Mar 2026) + 2 partial successes + 2 failures through FLTA007 |
| Total flights | 4as of [2] | 6as of [2] | 7as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest |
| Summary | The world's first methane-fueled rocket to achieve orbit (July 12, 2023), beating SpaceX Starship to that milestone. A commercial Chinese rocket built by LandSpace with vertically-integrated methane propulsion — the same propellant strategy as Starship, Neutron, and Terran R. | 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. | Firefly Aerospace's two-stage small-lift rocket powered by four Reaver engines at sea level and one Lightning engine in vacuum. Also provides launch services for NASA's CLPS programme (Blue Ghost lander launched on Falcon 9). FLTA007 'Stairway to Seven' succeeded Mar 11, 2026. |
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.