Head to head
Long March 3B/E vs Soyuz 2.1b
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
Side by side
| Metric | Long March 3B/E | Soyuz 2.1b |
|---|---|---|
| Flights flown | 78 | 25 |
| Success rate | 97.4% | 100% |
| Payload to LEO (kg) | 12,000 | 8,200 |
| Payload to GTO (kg) | 5,500 | 3,250 |
| Launch cost | $70M | $80M |
| Cost per kg to LEO | $5,833 | $9,756 |
| Length (m) | 56.3 | 46.3 |
| Diameter (m) | 3.35 | 2.95 |
| Launch mass (t) | 456 | 312 |
| Stages | 3 | 3 |
Long March 3B/E
97.4% success rate76 of 78 flown · 2 failed
2007peak 2025 · 13 flights2026
Soyuz 2.1b
100% success rate25 of 25 flown
2008peak 2021 · 4 flights2026
Long March 3B/E is built by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation of China.Soyuz 2.1b is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia (company profile on Space Index).
Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Long March 3B/E · Soyuz 2.1b.
Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.