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 | ExPace (CASIC subsidiary) | Firefly Aerospace |
| Country | 🇨🇳 China | 🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 USA |
| Status | Active | Active | Active |
| Vehicle class | Medium | Small | Small |
| Propellant | CH₄ / LOX (9× TQ-12B first stage; TQ-15B vacuum upper stage) | Solid (3 stages) + liquid upper stage | RP-1 / LOX |
| Reusable | Yes | No | No |
| Stages | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| First flight | 2025 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Payload to LEO | 21,000 kgas of [1]Expendable; ~18,300 kg with first-stage recovery ↑ Best | 1,500 kgas of [1] | 1,030 kgas of [1]SSO capacity ~630 kg |
| Payload to GTO | — | — | — |
| Height | 76.2 mas of [1] ↑ Best | — | 29 mas of [1] |
| Liftoff mass | ~660 tas of [1] ↑ Best | 78 tas of [1]Transporter-erector-launcher (TEL) capable. | 54 tas of [1] |
| 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. | 80% (4/5)as of [1]Debut flight (2020-07-10) failed; returned to flight 2022-12-07 successfully. ↑ 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 | 1as of [3]Second orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted Q2 2026 per LandSpace | 5as of [1] | 7as of [2] ↑ Best |
| Cost / kg LEO | — | — | ~$14,500/kgas of [1]Based on ~$15M list price / 1,030 kg LEO ↓ Cheapest |
| 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. | The larger sibling of Kuaizhou-1A, roughly 3.75x the payload class, road-mobile and solid-fueled, recovering commercial cadence after a 2020 debut failure. | 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. |
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.