Head to head

Atlas IIA 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

Atlas IIA: 6,580 kg

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

Side by side

9 comparable figures

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

Metric	Atlas IIA	Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Flights flown	23	36
Success rate	100%	100%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,580	8,200
Payload to GTO (kg)	2,810	3,250
Liftoff thrust (kN)	2,479	4,150
Length (m)	47.54	46.3
Diameter (m)	3.04	10.3
Launch mass (t)	204	313
Stages	3	4

Atlas IIA

Flight record

100% success rate23 of 23 flown

1992peak 1996 · 4 flights2002

Maiden flight 1992-06-10. Retired.

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M

Flight record

100% success rate36 of 36 flown

2017peak 2021 · 8 flights2026

Maiden flight 2008-07-26. Still flying.

Atlas IIA is built by Lockheed Martin of the United States (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: Atlas IIA · 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.