Head to head

Ariane 64 vs Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M

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 64: 21,900 kg

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M: 8,200 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.

Metric	Ariane 64	Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Flights flown	3	36
Success rate	100%	100%
Payload to LEO (kg)	21,900	8,200
Payload to GTO (kg)	11,700	3,250
Length (m)	63	46.3
Diameter (m)	5.4	10.3
Stages	2	4

Ariane 64

Flight record

100% success rate3 of 3 flown

Maiden flight 2026-06-17. Still flying.

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M

Flight record

100% success rate36 of 36 flown

2017peak 2021 · 8 flights2026

Maiden flight 2008-07-26. Still flying.

Ariane 64 is built by ArianeGroup of France (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia (company profile on Space Index).

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Ariane 64 · Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M.

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