Week in Space Data, every Friday.
A sourced reference of 24 orbital launch vehicles (20 operational, 4 in development) with specifications, career launch records and published prices. Figures with no published source are left out.
Every rocket, with its price, record and next launch, is on Every rocket
The largest and most powerful rocket ever flown, designed for full and rapid reusability; SpaceX says it is designed to carry more than 100 metric tons to orbit fully reused. Still in flight testing: its first 13 test flights (April 2023 to July 2026) flew suborbital trajectories; Flight 13 (July 24, 2026) deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites on a suborbital path where they reentered by design. On Flight 14, September 28, 2026, Starship reached orbit for the first time, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites and splashed down in the Pacific after a deorbit burn, SpaceX reported; the booster splashed down in the Gulf of America, with no catch planned. The cost figures shown are a long-run goal stated by Elon Musk for mature flight rates: a target, not an offered price. Intended to also enable Mars missions, point-to-point Earth transport, and a much lower cost per kg to orbit. See live launch data for current flight-rate and reliability figures rather than a fixed count here.
One of the world's most powerful operational rockets, able to lift nearly 64 metric tons to low Earth orbit. Uses three Falcon 9 first-stage cores strapped together, with 27 Merlin engines at liftoff. Side boosters are routinely recovered; a center core landed once, on the Arabsat-6A mission in April 2019, but fell over and was lost during transport in heavy seas.
Blue Origin's orbital heavy-lift launch vehicle, with a reusable first stage powered by seven BE-4 engines and a seven-meter payload fairing. Named after astronaut John Glenn. It landed its first stage for the first time on its second flight in November 2025. The third flight (NG-3, April 19, 2026) suffered an upper-stage engine shortfall that left AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 in too low an orbit, and the satellite was lost. On May 28, 2026, a New Glenn exploded during a static fire test at Launch Complex 36; Blue Origin traced the explosion to a main oxygen valve on one BE-4 engine and says it hopes to return New Glenn to flight by the end of 2026.
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.
China's most powerful operational rocket, used for the Tianhe space station modules, Chang'e lunar missions, and Tianwen Mars probe. The Long March 5B variant is used for LEO heavy-lift.
Russia's modular heavy-lift vehicle intended to replace the Proton-M. Built from Universal Rocket Modules (URMs) burning kerosene and liquid oxygen, cleaner than Proton's hypergolic propellants. Launches from Plesetsk and Vostochny; flew its first operational payload in June 2025.
A medium-to-heavy lift reusable launch vehicle incorporating 3D-printed manufacturing. Following the retirement of Terran 1 after its test flight, Relativity shifted focus entirely to Terran R for the medium-lift reusable market.
Russia's heavy-lift workhorse, used mainly for communications and weather satellites bound for geostationary orbit and for interplanetary missions. Its three core stages burn hypergolic UDMH / N2O4. Being phased out in favor of the Angara A5; it last flew in February 2026.
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).
Europe's heavy-lift launcher succeeding Ariane 5. Flies as Ariane 62 (two P120C boosters) or Ariane 64 (four). The Vinci upper stage engine can restart for complex mission profiles. The first Ariane 64 launched on February 12, 2026, carrying 32 Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) satellites.
One of the most reliable launch vehicles ever built: 110 flights through July 2, 2026, with a single partial failure (NROL-30, June 2007) and an unbroken run of successes since. Uses a Russian-built RD-180 main engine. ULA stopped selling Atlas V in 2021; after its final Amazon Leo launch in July 2026, the six remaining rockets are all contracted to Boeing for Starliner missions. Succeeded by Vulcan Centaur.
Rocket Lab's medium-lift reusable launch vehicle for satellite constellations, national security missions and planetary exploration. Features a "Hungry Hippo" fairing that stays attached to the first stage, Archimedes methalox engines, and a reusable first stage designed to land on a sea platform. Rocket Lab targets delivery of the first vehicle to Launch Complex 3 at Wallops Island, Virginia, in the fourth quarter of 2026 and says the window for a launch before the end of 2026 is narrowing. The cost shown is the $50 million to $55 million launch price Rocket Lab has targeted, not a flown price.
China's primary GTO launch vehicle, used extensively for BeiDou navigation satellite deployment. Features four strap-on liquid boosters and a cryogenic third stage.
The most capable member of the Soyuz-2 family, derived from the R-7, the most launched rocket design in history. Adds the RD-0124 third-stage engine. Flies Glonass navigation satellites, military and Earth-observation payloads and some Progress cargo flights, and launched Luna 25 in 2023; crewed Soyuz flights use the Soyuz-2.1a. Counts here exclude Soyuz ST-B flights from Kourou.
India's heaviest launch vehicle, used for Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission and OneWeb constellation deployment. Features indigenous CE-20 cryogenic upper stage engine. Also designated for the Gaganyaan crewed program.
China's highly reliable medium-lift workhorse, primarily used for Earth observation and SSO missions. Reached its 100th mission milestone in September 2025, one of the most frequently launched Chinese vehicles.
ESA's upgraded small-to-medium launch vehicle with improved performance over the original Vega. Uses the P120C solid motor shared with Ariane 6 as its first stage. Returned to flight in December 2024 after a two-year stand-down following its December 2022 failure, then flew three successful missions in 2025 and two more in 2026 through September.
A small launch vehicle for dedicated small-satellite missions, with tap-off cycle Reaver and Lightning engines and carbon composite structures. An April 2025 flight failed after a stage-separation mishap, and a first stage was destroyed in a September 2025 ground test; Alpha returned to flight successfully on 12 March 2026. Firefly is also co-developing the larger Eclipse rocket with Northrop Grumman.
China's leading commercial small launch vehicle from Galactic Energy. One of the first privately developed Chinese rockets to reach orbit. Provides cost-effective dedicated small-sat access to SSO.
The leading dedicated small-satellite launcher, with 97 launches as of September 26, 2026, counting its suborbital HASTE variant. Uses electric-pump-fed Rutherford engines and a carbon composite structure. Rocket Lab achieved a record 21 Electron launches in 2025 with 100% mission success and calls Electron the world's most frequently launched small-lift orbital rocket.
Japan's flagship launch vehicle succeeding the H-IIA. Features the expander bleed cycle LE-9 engine, designed for improved reliability and reduced cost. Its December 2025 flight lost the Michibiki 5 navigation satellite after five consecutive successes; JAXA traced the failure to a damaged payload adapter. H3 returned to flight in June 2026 on the first three-engine configuration flight and flew again in August 2026.
India's long-serving workhorse launcher, with 64 flights since 1993. Known for cost-effective rideshare and dedicated small satellite missions. In February 2017, PSLV-C37 deployed 104 satellites, a single-mission record at the time (SpaceX's Transporter-1 carried 143 in January 2021). Its two most recent flights, PSLV-C61 (May 2025) and PSLV-C62 (January 2026), both failed because of third-stage problems.
Japan's upgraded solid-fuel small satellite launcher, developed from the Epsilon series, with a first stage sharing the SRB-3 booster design of H3. Its new second-stage motor exploded in static fire tests in July 2023 and November 2024, so JAXA decided in 2026 to fly a Block 1 version with the conventional Epsilon second stage, targeted for fiscal 2026 with lower capability than the original design.
China's first Long March rocket with solid rocket boosters, pairing a kerosene / LOX core stage with four solid strap-ons. Launches from Taiyuan and has flown frequently since 2024, largely deploying the Qianfan and Guowang broadband constellations and Yaogan satellites.