What are the rockets?

SpaceX's Falcon 9 is the most-launched rocket in the world, with more than a hundred flights a year, and its three-core version, the Falcon Heavy, covers the heaviest payloads. United Launch Alliance has replaced the Atlas V and Delta IV with the Vulcan, which debuted in 2024. Blue Origin flew the New Glenn for the first time in January 2025, and NASA reserves the SLS for the Artemis lunar missions. Starship, still in testing, aims to replace all of them. Among light-lift vehicles, Rocket Lab's Electron stands out.

Europe has the Ariane 6, in service since July 2024, and the light-lift Vega C, both launched from French Guiana and marketed by Arianespace. Russia maintains the Soyuz-2, descended from the 1957 R-7 family and the most-flown launcher in history, alongside the Proton, being phased out, and the Angara that replaces it. Japan has moved from the H-IIA to the H3, which flew for the first time in 2023, and keeps the Epsilon for small payloads.

China operates the Long March family, from the Long March 2 to the heavy-lift Long March 5, plus a growing number of commercial launchers. The Long March 5 launched the modules of the Tiangong space station and the Chang'e lunar probes. India has the PSLV, the GSLV and the LVM3, the latter used on the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. South Korea has debuted the Nuri. Adding to all of these is a generation of reusable rockets in development, from Rocket Lab's Neutron to Chinese projects with propulsive landing, seeking to repeat the Falcon 9 model.