Head to head

Atlas IIA vs Vega-C

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

Vega-C: 3,300 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	Vega-C
Flights flown	23	8
Success rate	100%	87.5%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,580	3,300
Liftoff thrust (kN)	2,479	2,974
Length (m)	47.54	34.8
Diameter (m)	3.04	3
Launch mass (t)	204	210
Stages	3	4

Atlas IIA

Flight record

100% success rate23 of 23 flown

1992peak 1996 · 4 flights2002

Maiden flight 1992-06-10. Retired.

Vega-C

Flight record

87.5% success rate7 of 8 flown · 1 failed

2022peak 2026 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 2022-07-13. Still flying.

Atlas IIA is built by Lockheed Martin of the United States (company profile on Space Index).Vega-C is built by Avio S.p.A of Italy (company profile on Space Index).

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Atlas IIA · Vega-C.

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