Head to head

Atlas V 401 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 V 401: 9,050 kg

Tsiklon-3: 4,100 kg

Side by side

10 comparable figures

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

Metric	Atlas V 401	Tsiklon-3
Flights flown	41	122
Success rate	100%	94.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	9,050	4,100
Launch cost	$115M	$15M
Cost per kg to LEO	$12,707	$3,659
Liftoff thrust (kN)	3,827	2,713
Length (m)	58.3	39.27
Diameter (m)	3.8	3
Launch mass (t)	590	189
Stages	2	3

Atlas V 401

Flight record

100% success rate41 of 41 flown

2002peak 2014 · 7 flights2022

Maiden flight 2002-08-21. 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 V 401 is built by United Launch Alliance 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 V 401 · 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.