This page exposes the list of launchers families.
To see the long complete list of launch systems, see Comparison of orbital launch systems.
Same cores are grouped together (like Ariane 1, 2 & 3, but not V). This list is a resume of data collected in respective pages of the launchers.
[Active] - [In development] - [Retired] - [Has flown but new version in dev.]
| Family | Country | Manufac. | LEO (kg) |
GTO (kg) |
TLI (kg) |
Cost US$ |
S/L | Status | FF | LF | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angara 1.X | Russia | Khrunichev | 3,800[1] | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Angara A3 | Russia | Khrunichev | 14,600[1] | 3,600[1] | -- | $70M | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Angara A5 | Russia | Khrunichev | 24,500[1] | 7,500[1] | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Angara A7 | Russia | Khrunichev | 35,000[1] | 12,500[1] | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Ariane 1-2-3 | Europe | Aérospatiale | -- | 2,650[2] | -- | -- | 24/28[3] | Retired | 1979 | 1989 | |
| Ariane 4 | Europe | Aérospatiale | 7,000[3] | 4,720[3] | -- | -- | 113/116[3] | Retired | 1990 | 2003 | Var: 2P,2L,4P,4L,2P2L |
| Ariane 5 | Europe | EADS Astrium | 21,000 | 10,050 | -- | $220M | 58/60 | Active | 2002 | -- | Var: ECA,ES,G,G+,GS |
| ASLV | India | ISRO | 150[4] | -- | -- | -- | 2/4[4] | Retired | 1987 | 1994 | |
| Athena I & II | USA | Lockheed ATK | 1,896 | -- | 158 | -- | 5/7 | Devel. | 1995 | 2001 | Launch Lunar Prospector. Ic & IIc currently in dev. |
| Atlas A-B-C-D-E-F-G | USA | Lockheed | 5,900 | 2,222[5] | -- | -- | 408/503[6] | Retired | 1957 | 1995[7] | Launch Mercury. Atlas or Centaur upper stage. |
| Atlas I | USA | Lockheed | 5,900 | 2,340[8] | -- | -- | 8/11 | Retired | 1990 | 1997 | |
| Atlas II | USA | Lockheed | 8,618 | 3,833[9] | -- | -- | 63/63 | Retired | 1991 | 2004 | |
| Atlas III | USA | Lockheed | 10,759 | 4,609[10] | -- | -- | 6/6 | Retired | 2003 | 2005 | |
| Atlas 5 | USA | ULA | 18,500 | 5,700 | 3,600 | -- | 27/27 | Active | 2002 | -- | Launched Juno & New Horizons |
| Black Arrow | UK | RAE Westland | 132 | -- | -- | -- | 2/4 | Retired | 1969 | 1971 | |
| Thor | USA | Douglas | 1,270 | -- | 38 | -- | 300/357 [11] | Retired | 1957 | 1980 | Launched Pioneer & Explorer probes |
| Delta | USA | Douglas | 3,848 | 1,312 | -- | -- | 177/186 [12] | Retired | 1960 | 1989 [13] | Launched Pioneer & Explorer probes. Variants : A, B, C, D, E, G, J, L, M, N, 300, 900, 1X00, 4X00, 2X00, 3X00, 5X00 |
| Delta II | USA | ULA | -- | 2,171 | 1,508[14] | -- | 148/149 [15] | Active | 1989[16] | -- | Launched lot of Mars probes (MGS -> Phoenix). Variants : 6000, 7000 and Heavy. |
| Delta III | USA | Boeing | 8,290 | 3,810 | -- | -- | 1/3 | Retired | 1998 | 2000 | |
| Delta IV | USA | ULA | 23,040 | 13,130 | 9,000 [17] | -- | 20/20 | Active | 2002 | -- | Variants : S, M and Heavy. |
| Diamant | France | SEREB | 160 | -- | -- | -- | 9/12 | Retired | 1965 | 1975 | |
| Dnepr | Ukraine | Yuzhmash | 3,700 | -- | 750 [18] | $14M | 16/17 | Active | 1999 | -- | |
| Energia | USSR | NPO Energia | 100,000 | 20,000 | 32,000 | $240M | 2/2 | Retired | 1987 | 1988 | 1 flight with Buran Shuttle. |
| Epsilon | Japan | IHI Aerospace | 1,200 | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Falcon 1 | USA | SpaceX | 1,010 | -- | -- | $10.9M | 2/5 | Devel. | 2006 | 2009 | New version "1e" under development. |
| Falcon 9 | USA | SpaceX | 10,450 | 4,680 | -- | $56M | 2/2 | Active | 2010 | -- | Launcher of Dragon capsule |
| Falcon Heavy | USA | SpaceX | 53,000 | 19,000 | -- | $80M | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Demo expected for 2013 |
| GSLV Mk.I & II | India | ISRO | 5,100 | 2,500 | -- | -- | 5/7 | Active | -- | -- | Planned launch by 2012 |
| GSLV Mk.III | India | ISRO | 10,000 | 5,000 | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Scheduled for 2012 |
| H-I | Japan | Mitsubishi | 3,200 | 1,100 | -- | -- | 9/9 | Retired | 1986 | 1992 | licence-built version of the Thor-ELT |
| H-II, IIA & IIB | Japan | Mitsubishi | 19,000 | 8,000 | -- | -- | 26/28 | Active | 1994 | -- | Var:. A202,A2022,A2024,A204,B |
| Haas | Romania | ARCA | 400 | 100 | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Launch from balloon |
| J-I | Japan | IHI Corporation Nissan Motors | 880 | -- | -- | -- | 1/1 | Retired | 1996 | 1996 | Partial demo flight only |
| KT-1 | China | CALT | 50 | -- | -- | -- | 2/2 | Retired | 2002 | 2003 | |
| Kosmos | USSR | Yuzhnoye Polyot | 1,500 | 775 | -- | -- | 424/444 | Active | 1967 | -- | Var: 1, 3, 3M |
| L-4S | Japan | Nissan ISAS | 56 | -- | -- | -- | 1/5 | Retired | 1966 | 1970 | Var: 1, 3, 3M |
| Long March 1 | China | CALT | 930 | -- | -- | -- | 6/6[19] | Retired | 1970 | 2002 | Var: 1, 1D |
| Long March 2-3-4 | China | CALT | 12,000 | 4,850 | 3,300 | -- | 155/163[20] | Active | 1971 | -- | Ascends of ICBMs DF-5 Var: 2A,2C,2D,2E,2F,3,3A,3B,3C,4,4B 2F Launcher of Shenzhou |
| Long March 5 | China | CALT | 25,000 | 14,000 | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Var: 200,320,504,522,540 |
| Long March 6 | China | CALT | 1,500 [21] | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Minotaur I | USA | Orbital Science | 580 | -- | -- | -- | 10/10 | Active | 2000 | -- | Derived from the Minuteman II |
| Minotaur IV & V | USA | Orbital Science | 1,735 | 640 | 447 | $50M | 5/5 | Active | 2010 | -- | Var: IV, IV Lite, IV HAPS, V Derived from the Peacekeeper missile |
| Mu 1-3-4 | Japan | Nissan Motor IHI | 770 | -- | -- | -- | 25/27[22] | Retired | 1966 | 1995 | Var: 1, 3D, 4S, 3C, 3H, 3S, 3SII |
| Mu 5 | Japan | Nissan Motor IHI | 1,800 | -- | -- | -- | 6/7 | Retired | 1997 | 2006 | Var: M-V, M-V KM |
| N1 | USSR | NPO Energia | 90,000 | -- | 23,500 | -- | 0/4 | Retired | 1969 | 1972 | |
| N-I & II | Japan | NPO Energia | 2,000 | 730 | -- | -- | 14/15 | Retired | 1975 | 1987 | Derived from the American Delta rocket |
| Naro | Korea | Khrunichev KARI | 100 | -- | -- | -- | 0/2 | Active | 2009 | -- | |
| Pegasus | USA | Orbital Sciences | 443 | -- | -- | -- | 37/40 | Active | 1990 | -- | |
| UR-500 Proton | USSR Russia | Khrunichev | 21,600 | 6,360 | 5,650 | -- | 294/335 | Active | 1965 | -- | Var: M, K, R, Breeze |
| PSLV | India | ISRO | 3,800 | 1,300 | -- | -- | 18/19 | Active | 1993 | -- | Var: CA, XL, HP, 3S Launched moon probe Chandrayaan I |
| UR-100 Rokot Strela | Russia | Eurockot Khrunichev | 1,950 | -- | -- | $14M | 16/17 | Active | 1994 | -- | |
| Rus-M | Russia | NPO Energia | 23,800 | 7,000 | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| Safir | Iran | ISA | 27 | -- | -- | -- | 4/5 | Active | 2007 | -- | |
| Saturn I & IB | USA | Chrysler Douglas | 21,000 | -- | -- | -- | 19/19 | Retired | 1961 | 1975 | |
| Saturn V | USA | Boeing North American Douglas | 118,000 | -- | 47,000 | $185M | 13/13 | Retired | 1967 | 1973 | Var: Apollo, Skylab |
| Scout | USA | US Air Force NASA | 210 | -- | -- | -- | 104/125 [23] | Retired | 1960 | 1994 | Var: X1, X2, A, D, G |
| Shavit | Israel | IAI | 800 | -- | -- | $15M | 6/9 | Active | 1988 | -- | Var: Shavit, -1, -2 |
| R-29 Shtil Volna | Russia | Makeyev | 430 | -- | -- | -- | 8/9 | Active | 1995 | -- | [24] Var: Vysota, Volna, Shtil, 2.1, 2R, 3 |
| R-7 Semyorka Soyuz | USSR Russia | RSC Energia TsSKB-Progress | 5,500 | 2,400 | 1,200 | -- | 1,628/1740 | Active | 1957 | -- | Var: Sputnik, Luna, Vostok-L, Vostok-K, Voskhod, Molniya, Molniya-L, Molniya-M, Polyot, Soyuz, Soyuz-L, Soyuz-M, Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG, Soyuz-2 |
| Simorgh | Iran | ISA | 60 | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| SLS | USA | Alliant Lockheed | 129,000 | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Expected 2017 |
| SLV | India | ISRO | 40 | -- | -- | -- | 3/4 | Retired | 1979 | 1983 | |
| Space_Shuttle | USA | Alliant Martin Marietta Rockwell | 24,400 | 3,810 | -- | -- | 134/135 | Retired | 1981 | 2011 | Orbiter weight: 68585Kg. |
| Start-1 | Russia | MITT | 532 | -- | -- | -- | 6/6 | Active | 1993 | -- | |
| Taurus | USA | Orbital | 1,320 | -- | -- | -- | 6/9 | Active | 1989 | -- | Var:2110, 3110, 3210 |
| Antares | USA | Orbital | 7,000 | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | Cygnus launcher |
| Titan I-II-3-IV | USA | Martin_Marietta | 21,900 | 9,000 | 8,600[25] | $350M | 338/369[26] | Retired | 1959 | 2005 | Var: I, II, IIIA, IIIB, IIIC, IIID, IIIE, 34D, IVA, IVB Gemini launcher |
| R-36 Tsyklon | USSR Ukraine | Yuzhmash | 4,100 | -- | -- | -- | 226/236 | Devel. | 1967 | 2009 | Var: 1, 2, 3. Tsyklon 4 in dev. |
| Unha | North Korea | KCST | 100 | -- | -- | -- | 0/1 | Active | 2009 | -- | |
| Vanguard | USA | Martin | 23 | -- | -- | -- | 3/11 | Retired | 1957 | 1959 | |
| Vega | Europe | ESA ASI Avio | 1,500 | -- | -- | -- | 0/0 | Devel. | -- | -- | |
| VLS-1 | Brazil | ESA ASI Avio | 380 | -- | -- | -- | 0/2 | Active | 1997 | -- | Var in dev: Alfa, VLM |
| Zenit | USSR Ukraine | Yuzhnoye | 13,740 | 6,160 | 4,098[27] | -- | 65/74 | Active | 1985 | -- | Var: 2, 2M, 2SLB, 3SL, 3SLB, 3SLBF |