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Heavy-lift launch vehicle

Aheavy-lift launch vehicle is an orbital launch vehicle capable of generating a large amount of lift to reach its intended orbit. Heavy-lift launch vehicles generally are capable of lifting payloads between 20,000 to 50,000 kg (44,000 to 110,000 lb) (byNASA classification) or between 20,000 to 100,000 kilograms (44,000 to 220,000 lb) (by Russian classification)^[1] into low Earth orbit (LEO).^[2] As of 2024^[update], operational heavy-lift launch vehicles include the Long March 5 and the Proton-M.^[3]

In addition, the Angara A5, the Falcon 9 Full Thrust, the Falcon Heavy, the Vulcan Centaur, Ariane 6, and New Glenn are designed to provide heavy-lift capabilities in at least some configurations but have not yet been proven to carry a 20-tonne payload into LEO. Several other heavy-lift rockets are in development. An HLV is between medium-lift launch vehicles and super heavy-lift launch vehicles.

Rated launch vehicles[edit]

Rocket	In service	Manufacturer	Max. LEO payload	Launches >20 t	Heaviest launch
					...to LEOorMEO	...to GTOorGSO	...to HEO and beyond
Operational[edit] Currently operational rockets that have demonstrated their heavy-lift capability to low Earth orbit:
Long March 5/5B (CZ-5/5B)	since 2016	CALT	25,000 kg (55,000 lb)[4]	4	23,200 kg[5] Wentian Lab Module 24 July 2022	~14,000 kg[6] Yaogan-41 15 December 2023	8,350 kg[7] to Moon Chang'e 6 3 May 2024
Proton-M	since 2001	Khrunichev	23,000 kg (51,000 lb)[8]	1	23,200 kg[9] Nauka 21 July 2021	6,740 kg[10] ViaSat-1 19 October 2011	3,755 kg to Mars[11] ExoMars TGO 9 June 2016
Unproven[edit] Rockets that have not flown a 20-tonne payload to LEO, but are rated over this threshold:
Angara-A5	since 2014	Khrunichev, Polyot	24,500 kg (54,000 lb)[12][a]	0	—	2,400 kg[13] Mass simulator 14 December 2020	—
Falcon 9 Full Thrust (expendable configuration)[b]	since 2015	SpaceX	22,800 kg (50,300 lb)[14]	0	17,500 kg[15] (partially reusable configuration)	7,350 kg[16] Galaxy 33 and Galaxy 34 8 October 2022 (partially reusable configuration)	1,931 kg toMoon[17] IM-1 15 February 2024 (partially reusable configuration)
Falcon Heavy (with all boosters reusable)[c]	since 2018	SpaceX	38,000–45,000 kg (84,000–99,000 lb) [18]	0	3,700 kg[d] STP-2 25 June 2019	6,465 kg[19][e] Arabsat-6A 11 April 2019	1,300 kg beyond Mars orbit[20] Tesla Roadster 6 February 2018
Vulcan Centaur	since 2024	United Launch Alliance	25,000 kg (56,000 lb)[21]	0	—	—	1,283 kg to Moon Peregrine Mission One[22] 8 January 2024 (Maiden flight)
Ariane 6 (A64)	since 2024[23][24]	ArianeGroup for ESA	21,650 kg (47,730 lb)[25]: 46	—	—	—	—
New Glenn[26]	since 2024[27]	Blue Origin	45,000 kg (99,000 lb)[28]
Retired[edit] Formerly operational rockets with a payload capacity of between 20 and 50 tonnes:
Delta IV Heavy	2004 to 2024	ULA	28,790 kg (63,470 lb)[29]	1 public (up to 4 classified)	~21,000 kg[30][f] Orion EFT-1 5 December 2014	Classified[g]	~685 kg to heliocentric Parker Solar Probe
Saturn IB	1966 to 1975	Chrysler (S-IB), Douglas (S-IVB)	21,000 kg (46,000 lb)[31]	2	20,847 kg Skylab 4 16 November 1973	—	—
/ Proton-K	1967 to 2012	Khrunichev	19,760 kg (43,560 lb)[32]	4[33]	22,776 kg Zvezda 26 July 2000	4,723 kg Intelsat 903 30 March 2002	6,220 kg to Mars Phobos 1 7 July 1988
Space Shuttle	1981 to 2011	United Space Alliance	24,400 kg (53,800 lb) (excluding orbiter weight)[34]	11	22,753 kg Chandra X-Ray Observatory 28 July 1999
Titan IV	1989 to 2005	Lockheed Martin	21,680 kg (47,800 lb)[35]	up to 7 (classified)	Classified[g] (KH-11 launches had 19,600 kg[36])	Classified[g]	5,712 kg to Saturn Cassini–Huygens 15 October 1997
Ariane 5 (ECA and ES)	2002 to 2023	Airbus for ESA	21,000 kg (46,000 lb)[37]	4	20,293 kg[38] Georges Lemaître ATV 29 July 2014	11,210 kg[39] SES-17 and Syracuse 4A 23 October 2021	6,161.4 kg to Sun-Earth L2[40] James Webb Space Telescope 25 December 2021
In development[edit] Rockets that are actively being developed:
HLV	TBD	Indian Space Research Organisation	20,000 kg (44,000 lb)	—	—	—	—
SHLV	TBD	Indian Space Research Organisation	41,300 kg (91,100 lb)[41]	—	—	—	—
Zhuque-3	NET 2025	LandSpace	21,000 kg (46,000 lb)[42]	—	—	—	—
Gravity-2	NET 2025	Orienspace	25,600 kg (56,400 lb)[43]	—	—	—	—
Terran R	NET 2026[44]	Relativity Space	33,500 kg (73,900 lb)	—	—	—	—
Angara-A5V	~2027	Khrunichev, Polyot	38,000 kg (83,876 lb)	—	—	—	—
H3 Heavy	2030	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for JAXA	28,300 kg (62,400 lb)[45]	—	—	—	—
Cancelled concepts[edit]
Ares I	—	NASA (canceled in 2010)[46]	25,400 kg (56,000 lb)	—	—	—	—
Saturn C-3	—	NASA (cancelled in 1963) Engines developed for Saturn V	45,000 kg (99,000 lb) [h]	—	—	—	—
Vulcan / ACES	—	United Launch Alliance (abandoned in 2020)[47]	37,400 kg (82,500 lb)[29][48][i]	—	—	—	—

See also[edit]

• Comparison of orbital launch systems
• List of orbital launch systems
• Comparison of orbital rocket engines
• Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
• Medium-lift launch vehicle, capable of lifting between 2,000 and 20,000 kg (4,400 to 44,100 lb) of payload into Low Earth orbit
• Rocket
• Small-lift launch vehicle, capable of lifting up to 2,000 kg to low Earth orbit
• Sounding rocket, suborbital launch vehicle
• Spacecraft propulsion
• Super heavy-lift launch vehicle, capable of lifting more than 50,000 kg (110,000 lb) of payload into Low Earth orbit

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Mallove, Eugene F. and Matloff, Gregory L. The Starflight Handbook: A Pioneer's Guide to Interstellar Travel, Wiley. ISBN 0-471-61912-4.