Head to head

Atlas V 401 vs Zenit-2

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

Zenit-2: 13,740 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 V 401	Zenit-2
Flights flown	41	35
Success rate	100%	82.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	9,050	13,740
Payload to SSO (kg)	6,670	5,000
Liftoff thrust (kN)	3,827	7,300
Length (m)	58.3	57
Diameter (m)	3.8	3.9
Launch mass (t)	590	459
Stages	2	2

Atlas V 401

Flight record

100% success rate41 of 41 flown

2002peak 2014 · 7 flights2022

Maiden flight 2002-08-21. Retired.

Zenit-2

Flight record

82.9% success rate29 of 35 flown · 6 failed

1985peak 1987 · 5 flights2004

Maiden flight 1985-04-13. Retired.

Atlas V 401 is built by United Launch Alliance of the United States (company profile on Space Index).Zenit-2 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Atlas V 401 · Zenit-2.

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