Head to head

Atlas V 551 vs Space Shuttle

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 551: 18,850 kg

Space Shuttle: 27,500 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 551	Space Shuttle
Flights flown	23	135
Success rate	100%	98.5%
Payload to LEO (kg)	18,850	27,500
Launch cost	$153M	$450M
Cost per kg to LEO	$8,117	$16,364
Liftoff thrust (kN)	12,269	28,200
Length (m)	59.7	56.1
Diameter (m)	3.8	8
Launch mass (t)	573	2030
Stages	2	2

Atlas V 551

Flight record

100% success rate23 of 23 flown

2006peak 2025 · 5 flights2026

Maiden flight 2006-01-19. Retired.

Space Shuttle

Flight record

98.5% success rate133 of 135 flown · 2 failed

1981peak 1985 · 9 flights2011

Maiden flight 1981-04-12. Retired.

Atlas V 551 is built by United Launch Alliance of the United States (company profile on Space Index).Space Shuttle is built by National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (company profile on Space Index).

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Atlas V 551 · Space Shuttle.

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