Week in Space Data, every Friday.
ULA's expendable next-generation rocket against SpaceX's reusable workhorse: list price and cost per kilogram, payload to every orbit that matters, career record, live launch cadence, and which missions fly on which. Catalogue figures are read from the SpaceNexus launch-vehicle registry; cadence is live from the launch tracker.
| Metric | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vulcan Centaur |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | SpaceX | ULA |
| Status | Operational | Operational |
| First flight (this configuration) | 2018-05-11 | 2024-01-08 |
| Height | 70 m | 61.6 m |
| Core diameter | 3.7 m | 5.4 m |
| Fairing diameter | 5.2 m | 5.4 m |
| Liftoff mass | 549,054 kg | Not listed |
| Stages | 2 | 2 |
| Metric | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vulcan Centaur |
|---|---|---|
| Payload to LEO | 22,800 kg | 27,200 kg |
| Payload to GTO | 8,300 kg | 14,500 kg |
| Payload to SSO | Not listed | Not listed |
| Payload to TLI (lunar) | Not listed | 11,500 kg |
| Engines | 9x Merlin 1D + 1x Merlin Vacuum | 2x BE-4 + 0/2/4/6x GEM 63XL SRBs + 2x RL10C |
| Propellant | RP-1 / LOX | CH4 / LOX (booster) + LH2 / LOX (upper) |
Vulcan Centaur out-lifts Falcon 9 to every orbit the catalogue lists for both, and the gap widens with orbital energy: the hydrogen-fuelled Centaur upper stage is the reason Vulcan carries a trans-lunar figure while the catalogue lists none for Falcon 9. Falcon 9's LEO number is the expendable-booster maximum; with the first stage recovered, as on most flights, it carries about 17.5 tonnes (Payload, January 2025).
| Metric | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vulcan Centaur |
|---|---|---|
| List / catalogue price per launch | ~$74M | Not listed |
| Cost per kg to LEO (catalogue) | ~$3,246/kg | Not listed |
| Cost per kg to GTO (price ÷ GTO payload) | ~$8,916/kg | Not listed |
| Cost per kg to TLI (price ÷ TLI payload) | Not listed | Not listed |
ULA publishes no list price for Vulcan Centaur, so only Falcon 9 carries a price here. Vulcan carries more to GTO and has a trans-lunar figure, where the catalogue lists none for Falcon 9.
Figures as of 2026-10-11. Source: SpaceX price sheet (as reported by Spaceflight Now) and SpaceX rideshare price list, Rocket Lab results as reported by The Motley Fool, SpaceNexus launch-vehicle registry. Full context in the launch cost guide.
| Metric | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vulcan Centaur |
|---|---|---|
| Career launches | 636 | 4 |
| Successes | 635 | 4 |
| Failures | 1 | 0 |
| Partial failures | 0 | 0 |
| Success rate | 99.8% | 100% |
| Consecutive successes | 338 | 4 |
| Record verified as of | 2026-10-09 |
| Metric | Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vulcan Centaur |
|---|---|---|
| Reusable | Yes: first stage and fairings | No: expendable |
| Booster engines | 9x Merlin 1D | 2x BE-4 |
| Upper stage | 1x Merlin Vacuum | 0/2/4/6x GEM 63XL SRBs |
This is the structural difference behind every other row. Falcon 9 lands and reflies its first stage and recovers its fairings: by 31 March 2026 Falcon first stages had landed more than 570 times, and more than 540 launches had flown on a flight-proven Falcon rocket, according to SpaceX's IPO prospectus. Vulcan is expended every flight: a new pair of BE-4 engines, a new Centaur, and new solid boosters when the configuration uses them. ULA has said it is working on recovering the engine section; no Vulcan has flown with it.
Most of everything: 122 of SpaceX's 165 Falcon launches in 2025 carried its own Starlink satellites, and that year it also flew 11 of the 12 national-security medium and heavy missions and all five U.S. crew and cargo flights to the space station, alongside commercial satellites and rideshares.
Certified for US National Security Space Launch missions in March 2025 and expected to fly 19 Phase 3 Lane 2 missions, plus commercial work anchored by Amazon, which booked 38 Vulcan launches for its Leo (Kuiper) constellation in 2022. Vulcan has not flown since a solid rocket booster anomaly on 12 February 2026; ULA and Northrop Grumman, which supplies the boosters, need to find and fix the cause before the next launch.
Falcon 9. A published price (~$3,246/kg to LEO at full payload), far higher cadence, and a rideshare programme priced by mass.
Either. Falcon 9 has a published list price and the higher cadence; Vulcan carries more to GTO on the catalogue (14,500 kg vs 8,300 kg), which matters for the heaviest buses or a higher-energy drop-off.
Vulcan on paper: the catalogue gives it 11,500 kg to trans-lunar injection and lists no TLI figure for Falcon 9, whose lunar payloads have been the smaller commercial landers. Falcon Heavy is SpaceX's answer at this energy.
Both are certified: Falcon 9 since May 2015, Vulcan since March 2025. In the April 2025 Phase 3 Lane 2 award SpaceX is expected to fly 28 missions and ULA 19. Vulcan launches have been on hold since its February 2026 booster anomaly.
Falcon 9 only: with Dragon, it is the only U.S. launch vehicle NASA has certified to carry astronauts to and from the space station. Vulcan is not certified to fly crew.
ULA publishes no list price for Vulcan Centaur, so the catalogue carries none and a like-for-like price comparison is not possible. Falcon 9 lists at ~$74M, about ~$3,246/kg to low Earth orbit. Vulcan's hydrogen upper stage carries proportionally more to high-energy orbits, which matters for GTO and lunar missions.
Vulcan Centaur on the catalogue figures: 27,200 kg to LEO and 14,500 kg to GTO against Falcon 9's 22,800 kg and 8,300 kg. Vulcan also carries a trans-lunar figure (11,500 kg); the catalogue lists none for Falcon 9. Falcon 9's LEO figure assumes an expendable booster: with the booster recovered it carries about 17.5 tonnes (Payload, January 2025).
Both have a perfect or near-perfect record on the catalogue: Falcon 9 at 99.8% over 636 launches, Vulcan at 100% over 4. The difference is sample size: Falcon 9's record spans hundreds of flights, Vulcan's a handful, and the catalogue description notes two Vulcan flights with solid-rocket-booster anomalies that still reached orbit.
No. Vulcan is expendable; Falcon 9 recovers and reflies its first stage and fairings, which is the structural reason for the price gap and for the cadence difference in the live figures on this page.
Vulcan was certified for US National Security Space Launch missions in March 2025 and carries a hydrogen upper stage; Amazon booked 38 Vulcan launches for its Leo (Kuiper) constellation in 2022. Vulcan has not flown since a solid rocket booster anomaly on 12 February 2026. Falcon 9 flies most of everything else: 122 of SpaceX's 165 Falcon launches in 2025 carried its own Starlink satellites, alongside commercial satellites, rideshares and NASA cargo and crew. Live cadence for each is on this page; the vehicle pages carry the manifests.
| 2026-10-09 |
From SpaceNexus's launch tracker (tracked since Oct 8, 2022); 8 on the manifest.
From SpaceNexus's launch tracker (tracked since Aug 13, 2025); 8 on the manifest.
ULA's next-generation launch vehicle replacing both Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy. Uses two Blue Origin BE-4 methane-fueled engines on the first stage, up to six Northrop Grumman GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters, and the Centaur V upper stage with two RL10C engines. Two flights have experienced GEM 63XL SRB anomalies while still reaching their intended orbits: the Cert-2 mission (October 2024) and USSF-87 (February 12, 2026), after which the Space Force paused Vulcan national-security launches pending the SRB investigation. As of October 9, 2026, Vulcan had not flown again since USSF-87.
The workhorse of the global launch industry. First orbital-class rocket to achieve propulsive landing and routine reuse of the first stage. SpaceX flew 132 Falcon 9 missions in 2024 and 165 in 2025. SpaceX says its boosters have been engineered and demonstrated to support up to 40 flights; the fleet leader, B1067, flew its 37th mission on August 25, 2026 (Spaceflight Now). Block 5 variant first flew May 2018 (original Falcon 9 v1.0 debuted June 2010).