Heavy-lift launch vehicle

Launch vehicle capable of lifting between 20,000 to 50,000 kg into low Earth orbit

From left: Falcon Heavy, Long March 5, Proton-M

Class overview
Name| Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Preceded by| Medium-lift launch vehicle
Succeeded by| Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
Built| Since 1966
General characteristics
Capacity| 20,000 to 50,000 kg (44,000 to 110,000 lb)

A heavy-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) (by NASA 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]

### Operational

[edit]

Vehicle  | Origin  | Manufacturer  | Mass to LEO (kg)  | Heaviest launch  | Launches[a] | First flight

|
|
|
|
|
|

...to LEO or MEO | ...to GTO or GSO | ...to HEO and beyond
Long March 5/5B |  China | CALT | 25,000[4] | 23,200[5] | 14,000[6] | 8,350 to Moon[7] | 4  | 2016
Proton-M |  Russia | Khrunichev | 23,000[8] | 23,200[9] | 6,740[10] | 3,755 to Mars[11] | 1  | 2001
Angara A5 |  Russia | Khrunichev
KBKhA | 24,500[12][b] | —  | 2,400[13] | —  | 0  | 2014
Falcon Heavy[c] |  United States | SpaceX | 38,000–45,000[d]
[14] | 3,700[e] | 6,465[15][f] | 1,300 to HCO[16] | 0  | 2018
Vulcan Centaur |  United States | ULA | 25,000[17] | —  | —  | 1,283 to Moon[18] | 0  | 2024

### Under development

[edit]

Vehicle  | Origin  | Manufacturer  | Mass to LEO (kg)  | Expected flight

|
|
|
|

New Glenn[19] |  United States | Blue Origin | 45,000[20] | 2024[21]
Ariane 6 (A64)  |  France
Europe[g] | ArianeGroup | 21,650[22] | 2024[23][24]
HLV |  India | ISRO | 20,000 | TBD
SHLV |  India | ISRO | 41,300[25] | TBD
Zhuque-3 |  China | LandSpace | 21,000[26] | 2025
Gravity-2 |  China | Orienspace | 25,600[27] | 2025
Terran R |  United States | Relativity Space | 33,500 | 2026[28]
Angara-A5V |  Russia | Khrunichev, Polyot | 38,000 | 2027
H3 Heavy |  Japan | Mitsubishi | 28,300[29] | 2030

### Retired

[edit]

Vehicle  | Origin  | Manufacturer  | Mass to LEO (kg)  | Heaviest launch  | Launches  | First flight  | Last Flight

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

...to LEO or MEO | ...to GTO or GSO | ...to HEO and beyond
Saturn IB |  United States | Chrysler & Douglas | 21,000 | 20,847 | —  | —  | 2  | 1966  | 1975
Proton-K |  Soviet Union
Russia | Khrunichev | 19,760[30] | 22,776 | 4,723 | 6,220 | 4[31] | 1967  | 2012
Space Shuttle |  United States | USA | 24,400[h][32] | 22,753 | —  | —  | 11  | 1981  | 2011
Titan IV |  United States | Lockheed Martin | 21,680[33] | Classified[i][j] | Classified[i] | 5,712 to Saturn | up to 7 (classified)  | 1989  | 2005
Ariane 5 ECA/ES |  France
Europe[k] | Ariane Group | 21,000[35] | 20,293[36] | 11,210[37] | 6,161.4 to Sun-Earth L2[38] | 4  | 2002  | 2023
Delta IV Heavy |  United States | ULA | 28,790[39] | 21,000[40][l] | Classified[i] | 685 to heliocentric orbit | 1 public (up to 4 classified)  | 2004  | 2024

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Only counting launches between 20,000 and 50,000 kg.
2. ^ from Vostochny cosmodrome
3. ^ When all cores are recovered. When the center core is expended, Falcon Heavy is classified as a super heavy-lift launch vehicle with a theoretical payload to LEO over 50,000 kg
4. ^ Depends on whether the center booster is recovered or not
5. ^ The 600 kg DSX was boosted to Medium Earth Orbit
6. ^ to 90,000-km supersynchronous GTO
7. ^ The lead manufacturer is from France, but the rocket has significant contributions from companies based in Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden.
8. ^ excluding orbiter weight
9. ^ a b c Actual payloads flown are classified under the NRO launch program.
10. ^ KH-11 launches had 19,600 kg[34]
11. ^ The lead manufacturer is from France, but the rocket has significant contributions from companies based across Europe.
12. ^ The officially reported mass of 21,000 kg includes the Launch Abort System (LAS) which did not reach orbit, but excludes the residual mass of the upper stage, which did reach orbit, likely offsetting the mass of the LAS.

## See also

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Osipov, Yuri (2004–2017). Great Russian Encyclopedia. Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
2. ^ NASA Space Technology Roadmaps – Launch Propulsion Systems, p.11 Archived 24 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine: "Small: 0-2t payloads, Medium: 2-20t payloads, Heavy: 20-50t payloads, Super Heavy: >50t payloads"
3. ^ May, Sandra (27 August 2014). "What Is a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle?". NASA. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
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19. ^ "New Glenn". Blue Origin. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
20. ^ Foust, Jeff (8 March 2017). "Eutelsat first customer for Blue Origin's New Glenn". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
21. ^ Foust, Jeff [@jeff_foust] (24 April 2024). "For what it's worth: a NASA presentation at a COSPAR planetary protection meeting this morning listed a Sept. 29 launch date for ESCAPADE, the Mars orbiter smallsat mission flying on Blue Origin's New Glenn" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
22. ^ Lagier, Roland (March 2018). "Ariane 6 User's Manual Issue 1 Revision 0" (PDF). Arianespace. p. 46\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
23. ^ "Ariane 6 tests towards first flight". www.esa.int. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
24. ^ "Start of the first Ariane 6 launch campaign". www.esa.int. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
25. ^ "ULV". www.b14643.de. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
26. ^ Jones, Andrew (19 January 2024). "China's Landspace conducts first VTVL test for reusable stainless steel rocket". SpaceNews. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
27. ^ Jones, Andrew (11 January 2024). "Orienspace breaks Chinese commercial launch records with Gravity-1 solid rocket". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
28. ^ Berger, Eric (12 April 2023). "Relativity Space is moving on from the Terran 1 rocket to something much bigger". Ars Technica. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
29. ^ "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries mulls upgraded H3 rocket variants for lunar missions". SpaceNews. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
30. ^ "ГКНПЦ имени М.В.Хруничева | Служебный модуль «Звезда»". www.khrunichev.ru. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
31. ^ "Proton Data Sheet". www.spacelaunchreport.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2021.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
32. ^ "Shuttle". www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
33. ^ astronautix.com, Titan IV Archived 18 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
34. ^ Carmona, Camps; José, Adriano (12 November 2019). "Nanosatellites and applications to commercial and scientific missions". Satellites Missions and Technologies for Geosciences. doi:10.5772/intechopen.90039. ISBN 978-1-78985-995-9. S2CID 209187371. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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38. ^ "Webb". www.esa.int. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
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