Head to head

Ariane 44LP vs Zenit-2

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 44LP: 8,000 kg

Zenit-2: 13,740 kg

Side by side

8 comparable figures

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

Metric	Ariane 44LP	Zenit-2
Flights flown	26	35
Success rate	96.2%	82.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	8,000	13,740
Liftoff thrust (kN)	5,270	7,300
Length (m)	58.4	57
Diameter (m)	3.8	3.9
Launch mass (t)	420	459
Stages	2	2

Ariane 44LP

Flight record

96.2% success rate25 of 26 flown · 1 failed

1988peak 1994 · 3 flights2001

Maiden flight 1988-06-15. Retired.

Zenit-2

Flight record

82.9% success rate29 of 35 flown · 6 failed

1985peak 1987 · 5 flights2004

Maiden flight 1985-04-13. Retired.

Ariane 44LP is built by Aérospatiale of France (company profile on Space Index).Zenit-2 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Ariane 44LP · Zenit-2.

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