Launch vehicle field guide

Rocket Size Comparison: Starship vs New Glenn vs Falcon Heavy

Starship, New Glenn, Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9, Ariane 6, Vulcan Centaur, and Long March 5 — a side-by-side size and payload comparison for the world's major heavy and super-heavy orbital rockets. Height, thrust, reuse, cost, and mission fit, without hunting through separate spec sheets.

Specs Profiles Guide
8 major orbital launch vehicles
150 t largest listed reusable LEO payload
3 lift classes covered
2010-2025 first-flight span in this set
Approximate height scale 124 m max
Starship124 m
New Glenn98 m
Falcon Heavy70 m
Falcon 970 m
Ariane 663 m
Vulcan61.6 m
Long March 557 m
Angara A555.4 m

Height is a fast visual proxy, not a performance ranking. Payload, orbit, reuse, cadence, fairing volume, and integration constraints matter more for mission selection.

Quick Reference

Use this as the cheat-within-the-cheat before diving into the full table.

Raw LEO Payload

Starship is the outlier at 150,000 kg reusable; Falcon Heavy is the mature high-capacity operational benchmark at 63,800 kg.

Reuse Model

Starship targets full reuse; Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy recover first stages and fairings; New Glenn targets first-stage reuse.

Operational Maturity

Falcon 9 is the cadence leader; Falcon Heavy is proven for high-energy missions; newer systems carry more schedule risk.

Common Pitfall

Do not compare "payload to LEO" as if every mission uses the same orbit, inclination, recovery mode, or payload adapter.

Rocket Profiles

Filter and sort the cards by lift class, name, payload, height, or first flight year.

Showing 8 rockets.

SpaceX Starship ignites during IFT-5 test flight

Starship

Super Heavy

SpaceX, United States

  • ReusableFully reusable, both stages
  • LEO payload150,000 kg reusable
  • Height124 m (408 ft)
  • Engines33 Raptor 3
  • First flightApr 20, 2023

The most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, designed for Earth orbit, lunar, and Mars missions. Full reuse is the central economic premise. IFT-13 (July 24, 2026) deployed 20 Starlink V3 satellites; booster landing burn failed (engine reignition issues), orbiter intact recovery successful.

Official site Wikipedia
New Glenn heavy-lift vehicle rendering at Space Launch Complex 36

New Glenn

Heavy

Blue Origin, United States

  • ReusableFirst stage, 25+ flights target
  • LEO payload45,000 kg
  • Height98 m (322 ft)
  • Engines7 BE-4, first stage
  • First flightJan 16, 2025

Blue Origin's heavy-lift vehicle with a reusable first stage. Third flight (Apr 19, 2026) had second-stage failure. May 28, 2026 static-fire explosion damaged LC-36. NASA partnership announced (July 24, 2026) to support RTF; Blue Origin targeting EOY 2026 return to flight with new launch procedures.

Official site Wikipedia
SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifting off during demo mission

Falcon Heavy

Super Heavy

SpaceX, United States

  • ReusableBoosters and fairings
  • LEO payload63,800 kg
  • Height70 m (229.6 ft)
  • Engines27 Merlin, 9 per core
  • First flightFeb 6, 2018

A three-core Falcon 9 derivative and the highest-capacity proven operational vehicle in this comparison, with reusable booster landings where mission energy allows.

Official site Wikipedia
Falcon 9 launching NASA Crew Dragon Demo-2

Falcon 9

Medium

SpaceX, United States

  • ReusableFirst stage and fairings
  • LEO payload22,800 kg
  • Height70 m (230 ft)
  • Engines9 Merlin
  • First flightJun 4, 2010

The most-launched American orbital rocket in history. It powers SpaceX Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, Starlink, government, and commercial missions.

Official site Wikipedia
Ariane 6 standing on the Guiana Space Centre launch pad

Ariane 6

Heavy

ArianeGroup, Europe

  • ReusableNo, expendable
  • LEO payload21,650 kg, A64
  • Height~63 m (207 ft)
  • EnginesVulcain 2.1 plus solid boosters
  • First flightJul 9, 2024

Europe's next-generation heavy-lift rocket with A62 and A64 variants. The program prioritizes independent European launch access and flexible dual-payload missions.

Official site Wikipedia
ULA Vulcan Centaur lifting off with Peregrine Mission One

Vulcan Centaur

Heavy

ULA, United States

  • ReusableSMART reuse planned
  • LEO payload27,200 kg
  • Height61.6 m (202 ft)
  • Engines2 BE-4
  • First flightJan 8, 2024

ULA's Atlas V and Delta IV successor. Focuses on national security, commercial, and high-energy missions with multiple solid-booster configurations. USSF-87 (Feb 12, 2026) succeeded despite SRB nozzle burn-through; all future launches under investigation hold pending review.

Official site Wikipedia
Angara A5 lifting off from Russia Plesetsk Cosmodrome

Angara A5

Heavy

Khrunichev, Russia

  • ReusableNo, expendable
  • LEO payload24,500 kg
  • Height55.4 m (182 ft)
  • Engines5 RD-191, core plus boosters
  • First flightDec 23, 2014

Part of Russia's modular Angara family, intended to replace several legacy vehicles with a domestic heavy-lift capability.

Wikipedia
Long March 5 launching the Tianhe core module from Wenchang

Long March 5

Heavy

CALT, China

  • ReusableNo, expendable
  • LEO payload25,000 kg
  • Height56.97 m (186.9 ft)
  • Engines2 YF-77 core plus 4 YF-100 boosters
  • First flightNov 3, 2016

China's primary heavy-lift vehicle for space exploration, station assembly support, lunar missions, and large national payloads. TJSW-25 mission (June 11, 2026) to GTO cleared path for Chang'e 7 lunar south pole landing expected August 2026.

Wikipedia

Detailed Specifications

The full comparison matrix keeps intentionally scrollable columns on small screens so rocket names and row labels remain readable.

Statistic Starship New Glenn Angara A5 Ariane 6 Falcon Heavy Long March 5 Vulcan Centaur Falcon 9
Basic Information
Classification Super Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Super Heavy Heavy Heavy Medium
Manufacturer SpaceX Blue Origin Khrunichev ArianeGroup SpaceX CALT ULA SpaceX
Country/region United States United States Russia Europe United States China United States United States
Reusable Fully 1st stage No No 1st stage and fairings No SMART reuse, future 1st stage and fairings
Physical Dimensions
Height 124 m (408 ft) 98 m (322 ft) 55.4 m (182 ft) ~63 m (207 ft) 70.0 m (229.6 ft) 56.97 m (186.9 ft) 61.6 m (202 ft) 70 m (230 ft)
Diameter 9 m (30 ft) 7 m (23 ft) 3.6 m core 5.4 m (18 ft) 3.7 m each booster 5 m (16 ft) 5.4 m (18 ft) 3.7 m (12 ft)
Mass, liftoff ~5.3M kg (11.7M lb) N/A 773k kg (1.7M lb) ~860k kg (1.9M lb) 1.42M kg (3.13M lb) 643k kg (1.4M lb) N/A 549k kg (1.2M lb)
Propulsion and Thrust
First-stage engines 33 Raptor 3 7 BE-4 5 RD-191, 1 core + 4 boosters 4 Vulcain 2.1 + 2 solid boosters 9 Merlin per core 2 YF-77 core + 4 YF-100 boosters 2 BE-4 9 Merlin
Sea-level thrust, 1st stage ~76.7 MN (~17.2M lbf) ~1,900 kN (~427k lbf) ~2,090 kN (~470k lbf) ~1,350 kN core + ~18,000 kN boosters ~7,590 kN, 3 cores ~6,280 kN (~1,410k lbf) ~4,800 kN (~1,078k lbf) ~690 kN (~155k lbf)
Payload Capacity
Payload to LEO, best 150,000 kg, fully reusable 45,000 kg 24,500 kg 21,650 kg, A64 63,800 kg 25,000 kg 27,200 kg 22,800 kg
Payload to GTO ~53,000 kg with in-orbit refueling 13,600 kg 5,400 kg 11,500 kg, A64 26,700 kg 14,000 kg 15,300 kg 8,300 kg
Payload to Mars 100,000 kg, potential N/A N/A N/A 16,800 kg N/A N/A 4,020 kg
Operational History
Status IFT-13 success, dev flight On hold, RTF planned Active Active Active On hold Active Active
First flight Apr 20, 2023 Jan 16, 2025 Dec 23, 2014 Jul 9, 2024 Feb 6, 2018 Nov 3, 2016 Jan 8, 2024 Jun 4, 2010

Decision Guide and Gotchas

Native details panels keep the page usable without JavaScript and make the tradeoffs explicit.

Which rocket is the practical baseline?
  • Use Falcon 9 as the default commercial-cadence baseline for medium payloads and rideshare-style planning.
  • Use Falcon Heavy when the payload needs substantially more mass or high-energy performance than Falcon 9 can provide.
  • Treat Starship as transformational but development-stage until the exact mission profile has flown at comparable complexity.
Payload numbers are not interchangeable
  • LEO, GTO, lunar injection, Mars transfer, and rideshare missions have different energy budgets and adapter constraints.
  • Recovery mode changes performance: reserving propellant for landing can reduce delivered payload compared with expendable profiles.
  • Fairing diameter and volume can matter more than mass for large observatories, station modules, or deployable structures.
Common mistakes and anti-patterns
  • Do not rank launchers by thrust alone; thrust says little about upper-stage performance or target orbit.
  • Do not assume "active" means immediate availability; manifest backlog, range access, certification, and pad status matter.
  • Do not compare development claims, marketing payloads, and demonstrated flight performance as the same evidence class.