Head to head

Atlas SLV-3 Agena D vs Molniya 8K78

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 SLV-3 Agena D: 1,000 kg

Molniya 8K78: 1,900 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 SLV-3 Agena D	Molniya 8K78
Flights flown	48	40
Success rate	91.7%	50%
Payload to LEO (kg)	1,000	1,900
Liftoff thrust (kN)	1,340	813
Length (m)	36	43.44
Diameter (m)	3	3
Launch mass (t)	155	305
Stages	2	4

Atlas SLV-3 Agena D

Flight record

91.7% success rate44 of 48 flown · 4 failed

1964peak 1966 · 24 flights1967

Maiden flight 1964-08-14. Retired.

Molniya 8K78

Flight record

50% success rate20 of 40 flown · 20 failed

1960peak 1965 · 11 flights1967

Maiden flight 1960-10-10. Retired.

Atlas SLV-3 Agena D is built by Convair of the United States.Molniya 8K78 is built by Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Atlas SLV-3 Agena D · Molniya 8K78.

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