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 | GSLV Mk III (LVM3) 🇮🇳 India Trust: Agency-primaryⓘ Last verified Active · Last updated 2026-06-01Remove × | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | LandSpace | ISRO | ULA |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇮🇳 India | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Heavy | Heavy |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) | Solid (S200 boosters) + UDMH/N₂O₄ (L110) + LH₂/LOX (C25) | LNG / LOX (BE-4); LH₂ / LOX (Centaur V) |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| First flight | 2025 | 2017 | 2024 |
| Payload to LEO | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery | 10,000 kgas of [1] | 27,200 kgas of [1]VC2S configuration (2 solid strap-on boosters) ↑ Best |
| Payload to GTO | — | 4,000 kgas of [1] | 14,400 kgas of [1] ↑ Best |
| Height | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best | 43.43 mas of [1] | 61.6 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | ~660 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 643 tas of [1] | 591 tas of [1]VC2S configuration |
| Success rate | 100%as of [2]1/1 orbital successes (Y1, Dec 3, 2025). First-stage recovery failed — abnormal combustion during the landing burn crashed the booster near the landing zone. ↑ Best | 100%as of [2]10/10 missions since development flight 2014 (D1). Production flights since 2017. ↑ Best | 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 |
| Total flights | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace | 10as of [2] ↑ Best | 4as of [2] |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | ~$4,500/kgas of [1]Estimated from OneWeb commercial contract ~$450M for 36 satellites (~5 tonne batch to GTO) ↓ Cheapest | ~$5,500/kgas of [1]Estimated; list pricing not public. Priced below Atlas V, above Ariane 6. |
| Summary | LandSpace's stainless-steel, reusable methalox rocket — China's closest analogue to Falcon 9. The Y1 debut (Dec 3, 2025) reached orbit on the first attempt but lost the booster during its landing attempt; a second flight with another recovery attempt is targeted for Q2 2026. | India's most powerful rocket. Launched Chandrayaan-3 (Moon lander) in Jul 2023 and OneWeb internet satellites commercially. Renamed LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) in 2022. The CE-20 cryogenic engine was entirely ISRO-developed — previously India depended on Russian technology for the GSLV Mk II. | 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. |
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.