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Launch vehicles

Section directed by Jean-Jacques Serra

A: Ares Ariane ASLV Astra Rocket Athena Atlas  
B: Black Arrow            
C: Ceres Chollima Conestoga Cosmos B Cosmos C Cyclone  
D: Delta Diamant Dnepr        
H: H1 & H2 Hyperbola          
I: ISAS vehicles ISRO vehicles          
K: Kuaizhou KSLV          
L: Long March Long March 6 Long March 11        
M: Minotaur Molniya Mu        
N: N1 & N2 NASDA vehicles New Glenn        
P: Pegasus Proton PSLV        
R: Rokot            
S: Safir Scout Semiorka Shavit Shtil SLV 3 Smart Dragon
  Soyuz Start STS        
T: Taurus Terran Thor Tianlong Titan    
V: Vanguard Vega VLS Vulcan      
Y: Yinli            
Z: Zenit Zhuque          


World Launch Vehicle Overview


Vehicle First launch LEO capacity (kg) GTO capacity (kg) Comments
         
CIS (Sheldon / DoD)       Detailed soviet chart here
Semiorka (A / SL1) 4 Oct 1957 1300   2-stage (--> 1958)
Luna (A1 / SL2) (Aug 1958)
2 Jan 1959
    3-stage (--> 1960)
Vostok (A1 / SL3) 15 May 1960 4700   3-stage
Molniya (A2e / SL6) (10 Oct 1960)
4 Feb 1961
  1600 (THEO) 4-stage, Molniya or Prognoz orbit
Cosmos B (B1 / SL7) 16 Mar 1962 450   2-stage (--> 1977), 144 launches
Voskhod (A2 / SL4) 16 Nov 1963 5500   3-stage
Cosmos C (C1 / SL8) 18 Aug 1964 1400   2-stage
Proton (D / SL9) 16 Jul 1965 12500   2-stage (--> 1968)
Cosmos (F1r / SL11) 17 Sep 1966     2-stage (--> 1971)
Soyuz (A2 / SL4) 28 Nov 1966 7500   3-stage
Soyuz ST late 2005   3200 from Kourou
Proton (D1e / SL12) 10 Mar 1967   4400 (GEO) 4-stage
Cyclone 2 (F1m / SL11) 27 Oct 1967 4000   2-stage
N1 (G / SL15?) (21 Feb 1969)     Lunar vehicle launcher
Proton (D1 / SL13) 16 Nov 1968 20000   3-stage
Cyclone 3 (F2 / SL14) 24 Jun 1977 5500   3-stage
Zenit (J1 / SL16) 21 Jun 1985 15000   2-stage
Energia (K1 / SL17) 15 May 1987 140000 18000 (GEO) shuttle, 2 successful flights
Start 25 Mar 1993 500   5-stage
Rokot 26 Dec 1994 1850   3-stage (RS18K)
Rokot M planned for 2022      
Shtil 7 Jul 1998 430 kg   3-stage, converted R-29RM (RSM-54), submarine launch
Dnepr 21 Apr 1999 3000   2-stage, converted SS-18 (R36-M2 / 15A18M)
Proton M + Briz M 7 Apr 2001 21000 5500 (GTO) to be retired by 2025
Strela 5 Dec 2003 1700   modified RS-18
Soyuz 2 19 Oct 2006 7480    
Angara 1 9 Jul 2014 3500   Briz KM or Bloc 1 top stage. To replace Cosmos 3 and Cyclone 3 launchers
Angara 1.2 planned in 2021      
Angara A5 23 Dec 2014   5200 Briz M top stage / launch from Plesetsk
Angara A5V 2025 35000   heavy lift, cryogenic upper stage, to launch from Vostochny
Aurora ?     launch from Christmas Island
Baiterek/Baitarek 2025?     Updated Zenit vehicle, launched from Tyuratam
$500 million for rocket developement paid by Russia, $245 million for the launch pad paid by Kazakhstan
Cyclone 2K 2006 2000   modernised version of Cyclone 2
http://www.unitedstart.com/Tsyklon2/
Cyclone 4 2023 5500 1800 Cyclone 3 with a Fregat upper stage. Launch from Canso spaceport, Nova Scotia, Canada
Proton Light 2019   3600 4-engine first stage
Soyuz 2-1v 28 Dec 2013 2850   NK-33-1 core motor, no strap-ons
Soyuz 5 2022 9000   62m long, 270 tons
Would be able to launch from Sea Launch platform relocated to eastern Russia.
With reusable first stage
Soyuz 6 (Amur) 2026 10500   With a reusable first stage, powered by methane should cost $22 million without upper stage. Launch from Vostochny
Soyuz 7   17000   Would be a Soyuz 5 adapted to launch from the Sea Launch platform. Would use the new Fregat SBU upper stage
Soyuz STK late-2011     Soyuz to be launched from Kourou
Yenisei
Super Heavy SLVS
2028 70000   should provide 20 tons capacity to cislunar polar orbit
Zenit 2       Launch from Tyuratam
Zenit 2S Dec 2019?     SL-37
Launch from Sea Launch
         
United States        
Vanguard (6 Dec1957)
17 Mar 1958
25   3-stage (--> 1959), 3 successful flights
Juno 1 31 Jan 1958 40   4-stage (--> 1959)
Thor Able (17 Aug 1958)
11 Oct 1958
200   3-stage (--> Thor Delta)
Juno 2 6 Dec 1958 50   4-stage (--> 1961)
Atlas 18 Dec 1958 1300   Mercury launcher
Thor Agena 28 Feb 1959 1000   2-stage (--> LTT Agena)
Atlas Able (26 Nov 1959)     3-stage (--> 1960)
Atlas Agena (26 Feb 1960)
24 May 1960
2300   2-stage (--> 1978)
Thor Ablestar 13 Apr 1960     2-stage (--> 1965)
Thor Delta (13 May 1960)
18 Aug 1960
    3-stage, (--> Delta)
Scout (4 Dec 1960)
16 Feb 1961
    4-stage (--> 1994)
Atlas Centaur (8 May 1962)
16 Feb 1961
5600 2250 4-stage (--> Atlas 2)
Saturn 1 29 Jan 1964 6800   2/3-stage (--> 1965)
Titan 2 08 Apr 1964 3500   Gemini launcher
Titan 3A (01 Sep 1964)
10 Dec 1964
    3-stage (--> 1965)
Titan 3C 18 Jun 1965 11300 4500 3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 34D)
Saturn 1B 05 Jul 1966 12900   Apollo launcher
Titan 3B 29 Jul 1966 3500 700 (THEO) 3-stage (--> Titan 34B)
LTTAT Agena 09 Aug 1966 2000   2-stage (--> 1972)
Saturn 5 09 Nov 1967 140000   Lunar vehicle launcher
Titan 3D 15 Jun 1971 13000   3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 34D)
Delta 29xx 09 Nov 1972 2000 720 2/3-stage (--> Delta 39xx)
Delta 39xx 13 Dec 1975   1250 2/3 stage (--> Delta 2)
STS 12 Apr 1981 24200 5900 (with IUS) Space Shuttle
Titan 34D 30 Oct 1982 15800 1900 2/3-stage + boosters (--> Titan 4)
Delta-2 69xx 14 Feb 1989 4000 1400 Interim Delta 2
Titan 4 14 Jun 1989 17700 5500 2/3-stage + boosters
Pegasus 5 Apr 1990 400   air launched rocket
Delta-2 79xx 26 Nov 1990 5000 1610  
Atlas 2 7 Dec 1991 6400 2700 2-stage
Atlas 2A 10 Jun 1992 6800 2900 2-stage
Atlas 2AS 16 Dec 1993 8400 3600 2-stage + boosters
Taurus 13 Mar 1994 1400   4-stage
Antares was Taurus 2 2013? 6300    
Pegasus XL (27 Jun 1994)
9 Mar 1996
455   air launched rocket
Athena 1 (15 Aug 1995)
23 Aug 1997
1000   3-stage
Athena 2 7 Jan 1998     3-stage
Conestoga (23 Oct 1995) 2100   4-stage
Zenit Sea Launch 28 Mar 1996     3-stage
Titan 4B 23 Feb 1997 22000 4-stage
Delta 3 (27 Aug 1998)
23 Aug 2000
8346 3810  
Minotaur 27 Jan 2000 550   440 kg in polar orbit
Atlas 3A 24 May 2000   4200 it uses the russian RD180 engines on the first stage
Atlas 3B 21 Feb 2002   4500  
Kister 1 2000? 500    
Delta-4 20 Nov 2002   4200 to 13100 kg  
Atlas 5 401/402 21 Aug 2002 12500 4950  
Atlas 5 431   n/a 7640  
Atlas 5 501/502   10300 3970  
Atlas 5 551/552   20520 8670  
Delta 4 Heavy     13000  
Falcon 1 (24 Mar 2006)
28 Sep 2008
     
Zenit Land Sea Launch 28 Apr 2008     3-stage
Falcon 9 4 Jun 2010 12500 4640 should cost $27 million max for launch!
Launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral
Falcon 9 Heavy 11 Apr 2019 53000    
Ares I-X 28 Oct 2009      
Super Strypi (4 Nov 2015)
2015
  300 kg  
LauncherOne (25 May 2020)
17 Jan 2021
400   2-stage
should cost $10 million per launch (airborne)
200 kg to sun-synchronous
400 kg to LEO
Launch from a modified Boeing 747-400 from the USA and possibly from Japan
Astra Rocket (21 Jul 2018)
20 Nov 2021
150    
Firefly Alpha 1 Oct 2022 400    
Terran (23 Mar 2023) 6000    
Starship (20 Apr 2023) 100,000    
Vector R 2018 50    
Vector H 2019 105    
New Glenn 2022? 45 tons    
Cubecab       to launch 1U or 3U satellites for $250000
OmegA planned in 2021     By Northrop Grumman Corporation
Launch from Kennedy Space Center pad 39B
RS1 (10 Jan 2023) 1350   From ABL Space systems
         
         
France        
Diamant A 26 Nov 1965 80   3-stage (--> 1967)
Diamant B 10 Mar 1970 115   3-stage (--> 1973)
Diamant BP4 6 Feb 1975 150   3-stage (--> 1975)
         
Japan        
Lambda-4S (26 Sep 1966)
11 Feb 1970
20   4-stage, 1 successful flight
Mu-4S (25 Sep 1970)
16 Feb 1971
75   3-stage (--> 1972)
Mu-3C 16 Feb 1974 85   3-stage (--> 1976)
N1 9 Sep 1975     3-stage (--> 1982)
Mu-3H 19 Feb 1977 100   3-stage (--> 1979)
Mu-3S1 17 Feb 1981 200   3-stage (--> 1984)
N2 11 Feb 1981   350 3-stage (--> 1987)
Mu-3S2 8 Jan 1985 400    
H1 13 Aug 1986 3200 1100 3-stage (--> 1995)
H2 3 Feb 1994 10500 4000 (2000 to GEO) 2-stage + boosters
Mu 5 12 Feb 1997 1800   solid 3-stage. worth $60 million
J1 cancelled 870   solid 3-stage
consist of H2 strap-on first stage + 2 stages of Mu-3S2
H2A202 29 Aug 2001   4000 $71 million
H2A2022 ?   4250 2 little boosters
H2A2024 4 Feb 2002   4600 4 little boosters
H2A mod ?   6000 2 additional main engines
H2A212 2008? 18000 7500 H2A202 heavy version with a lateral body
H2A222 ? 23000 9500 2 lateral bodies
H2B 10 Sep 2009 16500 8000 2 engines on the main body and 4 boosters
Epsilon 14 Sep 2013 1200   3 stages
SS-520 2 Feb 2018 140    
H3 2021   6500 MHI-built, new LE-9 first stage engine
         
China        
Long March 11 25 Sep 2015 700    
Long March 1D no launches? 1000   liquid/solid 3-stage
Long March 1 (01 Nov 1969)
24 Apr 1970
    3-stage (--> 1971)
Long March 2A (05 Nov 1974)     No successful flight
FB 1 10 Aug 1972     2-stage (LEO) (--> 1981)
Long March 2C 26 Nov 1975 2500 1000 + PKM liquid 2-stage
14 success
Long March 3 29 Jan 1984 5000 1400 liquid 3-stage
Long March 4 6 Sep 1988 4000 1550 liquid 3-stage
Long March 2E 16 Jul 1990 9200 3370 with PKM liquid 2-stage + 4 liquid strap-ons
Long March 2D 9 Aug 1992 3300   liquid 2-stage
Long March 3A 8 Feb 1994 7200 2500 liquid 2-stage
Long March 3B (14 Feb 1996)
19 Aug 1997
  4800 liquid 3-stage + 4 liquid strap-ons
consist of Long March 3A with 4 2E strap-ons
Long March 3C 28 Oct 2006   3800 liquid 3-stage + 2 liquid strap-ons
consist of Long March 3A with 2 2E strap-ons
Long March 4C 11 Nov 2007      
Long March 4B 8S exp. 2001 7800 2670 liquid 3-stage + 8 strap-ons
Kuaizhou (KZ) 25 Sep 2013 300   available commercially from 2017
KT 1 (15 Sep 2002) 100   4-stage
Long March 5 3 Nov 2016 25000 14000  
Long March 6 19 Sep 2015 1080    
Long March 7 25 Jun 2016 13500   5500 kg to sun-synchronous orbit (700 km)
KT 2 2 Mar 2017      
Zhuque (27 Oct 2018)     3-stage
Smart Dragon 1 17 Aug 2019 150   Produced by Calt, solid-propellant
Smart Dragon 3 9 Dec 2022 1500    
Ceres 1 7 Nov 2020 400    
Long March 6A exp 2021      
ZhongKe 27 Jul 2022 1500   4-stage
Zhuque 2 (14 Dec 2022)
12 Jul 2023
2000   from LandSpace Technology Corporation Ltd.
LOX/LCH4 engine
Tianlong 2 2 Apr 2023 2000    
Yinli lanc_yinli11 Jan 2024 6500   4200 kg in SSO. 4-stage all solid fuel  
Long March 8 exp 2021      
Long March 9 exp 2035 140,000   3-stage, should be fully reusable. First stage using methane. 114m long, 4400 tons at liftoff
built by CALT
Long March 10 exp 2027      
Long March 11A exp. 2022 500   500 kg in 500 km sun-synchronous orbit
NewLine 1 exp 2020 200   with a reusable first stage
Chongqing Liangjiang Star       First sub-orbital launch in May 2018
Guoyao Tech 2022     electromagnetic launch technology
Hyperbola 2   1900    
Zhuque 2 block 2   6000    
Tianlong 3   17,000    
         
         
United Kingdom        
Black Arrow (1 Sep 1970)
28 Oct 1971
    3-stage
One successful flight
SpaceLS 2020?     aims to lift cubesats in LEO
Prime 2024? 150   From Orbital Express Launch Ltd (orbex)
Launch from Sutherland Spaceport or Kinloss (Moray) in Scotland
Skyrora 2024?      
         
Europe        
Europa 1 F8 (30 Nov 1968)     No successful flight
Europa 2 (05 Nov 1971)     No successful flight
Ariane 1 24 Dec 1979   1700 3-stage (--> 1986)
Ariane 3 4 Aug 1984   2580 3-stage + boosters
Ariane 2 30 May 1986   2065 3-stage
Ariane 4, 44LP 15 Jun 1988 8300 4030  
Ariane 4, 44L 4 Jun 1989 9600 4460  
Ariane 4, 40 22 Jan 1990 4900 2020 3-stage
Ariane 4, 42P 20 Nov 1990 6100 2740  
Ariane 4, 44P 4 Apr 1991 6900 3290  
Ariane 4, 42L 12 May 1993 7400 3350  
Ariane 5 (4 Jun 1996)
30 Oct 1997
18000 6800 liquid 2-stage + 2 solid strap-ons
Ariane 5 ME mid-2018      
Vega 2012 1500   from Kourou ELA1, 3 solid stages and a liquid 4th stage
Vega C 2024 2200   4 stages
Vega E 2025     3 stages
Ariane 6-2 2022? 7000 5000 2 boosters
Ariane 6-4 2022?   10000 4 boosters
         
India        
SLV 3 (10 Aug 1979)
18 Jul 1980
40   4-stage (--> 1983)
ASLV (24 Mar 1987)
20 May 1992
150   solid 4-stage + 2 solid strap-ons (--> 1994)
PSLV (20 Sep 1993)
15 Oct 1994
3000   solid/liquid 4-stage + 2 solid strap-ons
GSLV 18 Apr 2001 8000 2500 3-stage
GSLV 2 5 Jan 2014   2200 3-stage
GSLV 3 2017? 8000 4000 3-stage
SSLV (7 Aug 2022) 500   4-stage
         
Israel        
Shavit 19 Sep 1988 150   solid 3-stage
         
Brazil        
VLS (2 Nov 1997) 350   Next launch planned in 2006
         
Ukraine        
Cyclone 4 planned in 2006     to be launched from Alcantara, Brasil
Similar to A Cyclone 3 with an additional Fregat upper stage
         
South Korea        
GYUB 4 Dec 2023      
KSLV 1 (25 Aug 2009)
30 Jan 2013
100 n/a Two-stage rocket, first stage based on Angara.
Launch from Naro Space Center on Oenaro Island.
         
Iran        
Safir (17 Aug 2008)
02 Feb 2009
    Two-stage
Safir 2 (April 2016) 350   Two-stage
Qased 22 April 2020      
         
North Korea        
Unha 2 (Apr 2009) 100?    
Unha 3 (Apr 2012)
12 Dec 2012
150?    
Chollima (30 May 2023)
21 Nov 2023
     
         
New Zealand        
Electron (26 May 2017) 300    
Neutron 2024? 8000   reusable first stage
         
         
Australia        
Eris (Gilmour Space) planned in 2023 305   launched from Queensland
Eris Heavy planned in 2025 2000    
         
Germany        
Spectrum 2022? 1000   Isar Aerospace, 2-stage rocket
Small Launcher (SL) 1 2024? 400   HyImpulse, 400 kg in SSO
RFA one ? 1500   From Rocket Factory Augsburg (subsidiary of OHB System)
3 stages


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