Head to head

Atlas IIA vs Tsiklon-3

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

Tsiklon-3: 4,100 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	Atlas IIA	Tsiklon-3
Flights flown	23	122
Success rate	100%	94.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,580	4,100
Liftoff thrust (kN)	2,479	2,713
Length (m)	47.54	39.27
Diameter (m)	3.04	3
Launch mass (t)	204	189
Stages	3	3

Atlas IIA

Flight record

100% success rate23 of 23 flown

1992peak 1996 · 4 flights2002

Maiden flight 1992-06-10. Retired.

Tsiklon-3

Flight record

94.3% success rate115 of 122 flown · 7 failed

1977peak 1985 · 12 flights2009

Maiden flight 1977-06-24. Retired.

Atlas IIA is built by Lockheed Martin of the United States (company profile on Space Index).Tsiklon-3 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Atlas IIA · Tsiklon-3.

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