Head to head

Electron vs Pegasus XL

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

Electron: 300 kg

Pegasus XL: 443 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	Electron	Pegasus XL
Flights flown	97	32
Success rate	95.9%	90.6%
Payload to LEO (kg)	300	443
Launch cost	$6M	$40M
Cost per kg to LEO	$20,000	$90,293
Liftoff thrust (kN)	162	580
Length (m)	18	17.6
Diameter (m)	1.2	1.27
Launch mass (t)	13	23
Stages	3	3

Electron

Flight record

95.9% success rate93 of 97 flown · 4 failed

2017peak 2026 · 30 flights2026

Maiden flight 2017-05-25. Still flying.

Pegasus XL

Flight record

90.6% success rate29 of 32 flown · 3 failed

1994peak 1996 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 1994-06-27. Still flying.

Electron is built by Rocket Lab of the United States (company profile on Space Index).Pegasus XL is built by Orbital Sciences Corporation of the United States (company profile on Space Index).

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Electron · Pegasus XL.

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