Rocket DB

Head to head

Ariane 44L vs Soyuz-U

Two vehicles in the same payload class. Every figure below comes from the same two sources for both rockets, and a row appears only when both publish the input.

Payload to low Earth orbit

Relative

Ariane 44L: 10,200 kg

Soyuz-U: 7,050 kg

Side by side

7 comparable figures

The highlighted value wins the row. Rows where neither direction is better, like length or stage count, highlight nothing.

MetricAriane 44LSoyuz-U
Flights flown4071
Success rate97.5%100%
Payload to LEO (kg)10,2007,050
Length (m)58.734.54
Diameter (m)3.82.95
Launch mass (t)484298
Stages22

Ariane 44L

Flight record
97.5% success rate39 of 40 flown · 1 failed
1989peak 2002 · 6 flights2003

Maiden flight 1989-06-05. Retired.

Soyuz-U

Flight record
100% success rate71 of 71 flown
1982peak 1987 · 10 flights1995

Maiden flight 1982-12-23. Retired.

Ariane 44L is built by Aérospatiale of France (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz-U is built by Soviet Space Program of Russia.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Ariane 44L · Soyuz-U.

Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.